Digimon Universe (Digimon Adv 01 Fic)
by OnceUponAReset
Summary: (AU) Everything is different with Marie Kido, cousin of Joe Kido. When seven children at camp are transported into a new world, Marie is pulled in with them! Only... They have friends waiting called "Digimon". Nobody is waiting for Marie Kido. The devices that fell from the sky are a light gray color to the other kids. Marie has a gold one that does nothing. Why the difference?
1. Ch 1: Summer Camp Shenanigans

* **Marie's P.O.V.***  
 **_**

"Jojo, do you know the kids at the camp?" I ask curiously as I jump off the last bus arriving at the campsite, looking around and shoving a hand in the pocket of my knit black leggings as I fall into step with my blue haired cousin.

Most of the other kids on this bus, the bus that went and got lost driving around for an hour past the arrival time despite there being three other buses to follow, have already run off ahead of my cousin and I much to my relief, which left the two of us to make our way to our assigned cabins for the duration of summer camp.

My cousin, Joe Kido, is twelve years old and apparently he would be the oldest kid at the particular cabin we were going to be bunking in. I was one of the younger ones there, but thankfully, even though some kids are closer to Jojo's age, I know he won't ditch me entirely and will keep me company.

See, I'm a bit insecure... And kind of a clinger. In my defense though, I'm only eight years old and only recently finished second grade. According to my aunt, it's okay for kids my age to cling to their elders- especially when they look up to them. In this case, that means cousin Jojo.

Jojo is _really_ smart, albeit a bit nerdy, but I'm completely fine with that. In fact, I hardly care how he looks like. He's my favorite cousin, and he's always taken good care of me whenever I visited. He usually has on wide rimmed glasses, with the center nose rest taped to keep it from falling apart... I think? In all honesty, I think it's only part of the tag that attached the price to the glasses. Jojo only got them before we hopped on the bus after all, and I wouldn't put it past him to forget taking something so inconsequential off.

His clothing currently consists of a white button up tee with a cream knit vest over it, sporting dark tan khaki shorts and finally red sneakers for the planned nature walks we'll be taking during camp. His hair, unlike mine, is a bold navy blue that matches the hair color of nearly the entire Kido family. He says it's a weird color, but in my opinion, I like it.

I wasn't born into the Kido family like he was. Fortunately, Jojo's aunt and uncle- my mom and dad- invited me to join the family when I was three and being taken care of in Foster Care. They couldn't have children of their own, so they decided to adopt. Turns out, I was the lucky flower of the bunch, and I got to go home with them and meet my new family.

I love my family, and I'm so glad mom and dad picked me out of all the other kids. Might have been the flower crowns I clumsily made them that convinced them to pick me. Hee hee...

...

"Marie, you don't have to worry about a thing. I only know a few of them, but it doesn't matter. I'll be right here with you regardless," Jojo says confidently, shooting a smile my way as I walk in step with him.

I pull my free hand out of my pocket again and reach out to grab onto his right hand, pulling myself to his side a little more.

"You promise?" I ask inquisitively, blinking my bright blue eyes at his dark irises as he pauses to crouch down a little to my shorter level. We're approaching the camp grounds, but we're not in much of a hurry really. After all, we're already late anyways to being with.

My suitcase is a bit heavy, but I let him stop me anyways because I want to make sure he won't abandon me. Last week, his brother left me alone at his friend's sibling's birthday party, and I felt so lonely and out of place... I didn't know anyone there. I definitely don't want to through that again...

Sure, Jojo's brother is nice and honestly didn't mean to get distracted entirely by his friends... But I feel like Jojo is somehow a little more sympathetic than cousin Shuu. Jojo understands me better.

"I _pinkie_ promise, Marie," he says, releasing my hand and raising his pinkie without breaking eye contact. Satisfied with his agreement, I giggle and take his pinkie in my own to seal the deal. "Now, come on, we're almost there!"

Jojo shifts his hand so that he's holding mine again, tugging me along towards the outhouses as we pass other kids and proctors helping the kids adjust to the new setting. It isn't until we pass them all that we reach the furthest most outhouse of the campgrounds, conveniently placed a good ways away from most of the other cabins. In fact, it's so broken off from the other cabins that the kids there hardly look bothered by the chaos of children celebrating their newfound freedom in the wild, no proctors in this specific zone whatsoever.

Four children, two together and two doing their own thing, catch my attention as we approach the cabin. My blue eyes jump over the kids' faces quickly, and I shrink back closer to Jojo in an attempt to sap some confidence from him when their eyes flick in my direction curiously. I've never seen any of these kids before... I know some are classmates from home with Jojo, and _most_ likely go to the same school in general, but I didn't attend the same school as my cousin. I mean... I lived in a different part Tokyo during second grade. After summer, I'm going to be in _third_ grade. The idea of it is a bit overwhelming... Especially considering some certain events.

"HEY, JOE!"

A gasp escapes me as Jojo and I snap our heads upwards to find the source of the call, which appears to come from a kid standing up high on a thick branch in the tree above us. He appears oblivious to the confused looks scrawled across the faces of the other four kids in the vicinity as they look from Jojo to me and back.

I'm sure they have questions, as Jojo and I look close, yet physically appear to be complete opposites- which is a given since I have starry blonde hair, crystal blue eyes, and a pale complexion to my petite figure. The only other kid as short as I am is one boy with sandy gold hair wearing a weird green hat, but I don't judge based on style.

"Jeez, don't scare me like that, Taichi!" Jojo huffs up at the kid in the tree, glaring as the stranger grins down at us in amusement and promptly jumps down from the branch to greet us properly.

As he lands before us, I flinch and shift so I'm slightly behind Jojo, using his body as a source of protection from this unfamiliar kid.

This "Taichi" guy has wild brown hair half held back by a pair of goggles, wearing a blue and black headband under the tight strap and sporting a blue tee with an orange trim. Much like Jojo, this kid appears to have take a similar path in what he wears below the belt, because he has on brown khaki shorts and red sneakers much like my cousin's.

It's only once I look up at Taichi's smiling face again that I realize...

This boy is also very cute.

"Aw, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I _had_ to! And hey, you don't have to get all formal on me or anything. Just call me Tai," Tai laughs, before his brown eyes move to focus on me beside Jojo. Infatuated by his physical appearance, I become frozen with anxiety when he looks straight into my eyes and beams brightly in my direction. "And you are? I don't think I've seen you around before... Do you go to our school?"

 _W-what do I say? I can't move!_ I think in horror, the sight of his smile aimed towards me practically turning my body into stone.

"Oh, this is my little cousin, Marie. My mom decided it would be healthy for her to tag along with me to summer camp- even though she's not from around our school area... Don't take her silence as anything personal, she's kind of shy with new people," Jojo explains with a bit of a chuckle while I turn away and play with the long end of my ponytail, struggling against the urge to stare at him dumbly and the intense fear of making eye contact again. In the end, my interest beats my fear out and I turn to glance back up at him momentarily.

He's really cute.

"...N-nice to meet you," I manage to murmur meekly, causing me to bite my lip and quickly look away again. Well, that couldn't have come out a bit bolder, could it? I _really_ don't like how shy I am... Other kids had been teasing me about it before we left home. Unfortunately, it's not something I can just wish away with the snap of my fingers, much to my dismay.

Jojo seems somewhat pleased by my efforts to greet Tai against my anxious state. Normally, I wouldn't say anything when first meeting someone, but...

"Likewise, Marie! Hmm, you have a interesting name. Sounds French. I like it!" He suddenly comments in thought with a sunny grin, as if just realizing it.

Not expecting to get a compliment like that from out of nowhere, I feel my cheeks get unexpectedly warm and muster a shy smile as I play with the end of my ponytail some more to relax my nerves. "Thank you," I say, despite my lack of eye contact with him.

"HEY, GUYS!" Tai unprecedentedly shouts loud enough to make me flinch and turn, causing the recent blush on my cheeks to drain away as soon as I see that he's calling to the other kids. They're mostly minding their own business away from us (read: trying not to reveal that they're curiously looking towards Jojo and I), but when they hear Tai call them, their heads all lift up like that of a meerkat's. Realizing what he's about to do, I find my nervous state rising once more and inch closer to Jojo. "Come meet Joe's cousin! She's new here!"

In what I swear is only seconds, the other four kids soon approach us with varying expressions of interest, two of the four strolling up to Jojo first with welcoming smiles. He must know those two too...

"Good to see you again, Joe," an older kid with gold hair who is also quite good looking says to Jojo as he approaches my cousin, Tai, and I. Beside him is that other sandy haired kid that looks close to my own age, standing a few inches shorter than myself and bearing a striking resemblance to the older kid exchanging formalities with my cousin.

"Likewise, Matt," Jojo answers cordially, grinning like they're old friends. While he speaks to Matt, my attention falls on the younger blonde currently staring at me with a big smile bright enough to blind somebody.

"Hi! I'm Takeru, but you can call me TK," the kid greets me sweetly, holding out a hand towards my startled form.

My eyes drag down to his outstretched arm with unease, a clock ticking in the back of my mind to remind me that if I don't grab it soon, I'll be painted as rude. After a second of swallowing down my fear, I release my grip on my ponytail and take his hand. It's warm against my palm and as soft as my own hand.

"I'm Marie..." I introduce myself as bravely as I can, pasting a nervous smile to my face as I shake TK's hand gently. Much to my relief, TK seems to notice my nervousness and releases my hand to return my personal space to mep. I feel the tension in my muscles begin to ease up a smidgen.

"This is my big brother, Yamato, but it's easier if you call him Matt," TK says, pointing up to the taller blonde who then crouches down to my level respectfully so that I don't have to crane my neck to look up at him.

"Hello, Marie," he greets me, to which I shyly answer with a little more confidence, "Hi, Matt. It's nice to meet you."

 _"Aww,_ she's so cute!"

I peer past Matt curiously to see one girl with a light pink cowgirl hat and a dark pink fringed dress scurry closer, as if spotting a cute puppy and wanting to get a closer look. She stares at me with a giddy and gleeful outlook, eyes twinkling when my blue eyes meet her brown orbs.

"She could be a living doll! My name's Mimi, Marie! We're gonna be such good friends, I already _know it!"_ She promises with a wink of her brown eye, giggling when all I do is blink back slowly in confusion.

 _Me? This bouncy, energetic girl wants to be friends with someone as quiet as me...?_ I think in mild surprise, slightly trembling under her admiring gaze when she openly stares at me.

A second girl with short orange hair covered by a light blue hat that resembles a helmet shifts beside Mimi to give me a wave. "I'm Sora, Marie. You don't need to be shy, we're all nice here. If anyone picks on you though, just let me know and I'll go set them straight!" She says with a flashy smile, adjusting her yellow tank top and adjusting her aqua blue jeans of a similar color to my aqua denim tank top.

"Hm, well, I think that's every- Hey, wait a minute...! IZZY, ARE YOU STILL PLAYING ON YOUR COMPUTER?" Tai shouts back towards the outhouse as if offended, causing me to giggle and genuinely smile at his outgoing attitude.

Mimi's eyes glaze over at my soft laughter, prompting me to fall silent as her expression builds up with barely kempt excitement.

"So _cuuttteee,"_ our cowgirl dressed camp mate coos as she inches closer towards me past the other kids. I can already feel my muscles locking up again as she nears... Until her hand whips out to grab onto my wrist, startling a soft yelp out of me when she turns and starts hastily pulling me towards the cabin a little more roughly than I would have liked. I don't object though- I'm far too complacent to do that.

"W-wait...!" I hear Jojo stutter from behind as Mimi proceeds to drag me off, but he's evidently held back when Matt and the others surround him to begin asking questions about me, such as "where I live", "how long I'm visiting", "what my favorite hobbies are". Tai ends up following Mimi and I though, taking up my other arm to drag me towards the cabin along with her.

"If he won't come out to meet you because he's obsessing over his laptop, then we're just gonna have to take the party to him," Mimi declares haughtily as I look back at Jojo, only to find TK staring after me with an expression of longing as I follow Mimi's brisk walking pace.

"You said it!" Tai agrees with an easygoing grin, so busy speaking to Mimi that he doesn't even notice the fact that my cheeks are turning tomato red from him holding my hand. "Anyways, Marie, Izzy's the last of our group. His real name is Koushiro, but we call him 'Izzy' as a nickname of his last name, 'Izumi'. _Blah, blah-bitty, blah blah blah..."_

 _Tai is_ really _cute..._ I think dumbly as his words turn to gibberish to my ears, taking the time to enjoy the feeling of his gloved hand in mine. It fills me with a feeling of acceptance.

"Hey, _Izzy!_ Wake up, you've been on that thing forever! There's no way you're gonna get internet all the way out here," Tai exclaims as he and Mimi drag me into one of the cabin rooms, where a spiky maroon haired kid that looks to be just a bit shorter than me sits in front of a yellow laptop. He almost looks my age, but I'm smart enough to know that looks can be deceiving.

Who knows, that TK kid could be my age too...

The kid, Izzy, is wearing an orange button up and brown shorts, along with a pair of yellow gloves that your eyes drag to immediately as you stand between Mimi and Tai. Come to think of it... Quite a few of the kids are wearing gloves out there. I'm pretty sure the only kids who aren't wearing gloves besides me areTK and Jojo.

I decide to voice my query after this observation

"Why is everyone wearing gloves? Were we supposed to bring a pair?" I ask softly, making Tai and Mimi look at me in mild surprise when I speak up again.

"Oh," Tai laughs as he eventually registers my words, giving me a sheepish grin as he reaches behindto scratch the back of his head. "No, you're not out of a loop or anything. It's just a preference I guess most of us coincidentally decided to go with."

I nod in confirmation, allowing this information to sink it. Honestly, I don't understand why _anyone_ would be wearing gloves in the summertime though. It's hot! Won't their hands get sweaty in those things? Weird...

"So. _Cute!"_ Mimi chirps gleefully again, releasing my hand to gaze down at me with her fingers threaded into each other. "I wish I could take you home with me~!"

"Who is she?"

I glance forward in surprise to see that the maroon haired computer kid has finally returned to the real world, his dark eyes studying me while Mimi busies herself with fawning over me and touching my hair with a wide smile of contentedness.

"This is Marie, Joe's younger cousin. This is her first time here for summer camp and we wanted you to meet her with the rest of us, but you were otherwise _occupied,"_ Mimi suddenly says with a glare at the kid that kneels before his still opened laptop, the sudden about-face half stunning me where I stand.

Izzy seems more or less unaffected by her accusatory words.

From what I can see, it looks like he's trying to connect to the internet via satellite, but is having no such luck if the pop up that says "ERROR" is anything to go by. My eyes scan the laptop curiously for all the proper connectivity- as I'm relatively familiar with computer technology and coding from messing around on the internet so much. Everything looks well inserted and processed- save for a service card that I notice isn't even plugged into the computer whatsoever. It's just lying behind to the laptop, forgotten and collecting dust.

A laugh nearly escapes me, but midst my efforts to not offend him by laughing abruptly like that, Izzy speaks up again.

Well, I'm not _anymore._.. Doesn't look like I can get internet up here. All I keep getting are pop-ups telling me there's some kind of error. Guess it's a lost cause to keep trying." Izzy stands up and turns to face me. He looks to be my exact height now that he's up on his feet, and the fluttery feeling of momentary amusement from his technical issue fades away, once again replaced with unease as he approaches us and offers me a calm smile. "Nice to meet you, Marie."

I nod to him shyly, looking down towards his laptop and gauging whether or not I should mention it.

"...Um... You likely _could_ connect to the internet if you weren't forgetting to do something," I give in to the desire to mention the issue, using one hand to play with the end my ponytail as a look of confusion crosses Izzy's features.

...

Next thing I know, he whirls back around and sits at his computer hastily to look over everything like a madman.

"Aww, man... And just when we almost got him off that thing," Tai jokes in half amusement and half exasperation, reminding me of the fact that he's still holding onto my hand. Nervous by continued contact with him, I gently sneak it out of his grip and play some more with my hair, turning and exiting the room to take a look around outside of the cabin and find Jojo again.

I'm sure Izzy will figure out the answer to his "dilemma" on his own soon enough. No need to stand here like a bother...

"Hey, what do you mean by tha...?" I hear Izzy start to say, but he soon trails off- probably due to the fact that I've left the room with Mimi trailing after me.

"Don't worry about her, Joe says she's kind of reserved," I hear Tai casually explain to Izzy while Mimi followed me out.

"So, got any cool hobbies?" The wannabe cowgirl inquires as I take a seat on a nice green patch of grass, inhaling some fresh air now that we're all away from the big city. Initially, I didn't want to come to summer camp at all, until Jojo said he would be going... and the idea of being left behind by myself while his brothers busied themselves with their jobs and school... It made me uncomfortable.

My aunt and uncle are both very nice, don't get me wrong. They're just... They're just not the person I need at the moment.

I need Jojo.

"I guess... Jojo says-" I begin to say, until Mimi cuts me off with a squeal of delight, making me flinch at the high pitch. Mimi's nice, but... Also kind of scary. I didn't even know the human larynx could _make_ a sound like that.

"That's so sweet! You call him Jojo? _Aww,_ you really love him, don't you?" She babbles quickly, causing me take a moment to process her words before nodding in confirmation once I interpret them in my own, um, _language_. "Okay, I won't interrupt anymore, go on. Hee hee~!"

"Alright, well... Jojo says I sing pretty, but I don't really like singing. I like drawing," I comment, watching as Mimi's eyes sparkle with interest and curiosity.

"Ooo, that's cool! I can sing too- but I actually like singing. Maybe you could show me the art you've done sometime?" Mimi asks sweetly, making me hesitantly crack a smile and nod at her.

"S-sure!" I evidently answer, my nerves slowly dissolving in the presence of the bright smiling, bubbly dirty-blonde haired girl that seems to be absolutely taken with my soft looks and personality.

"Hey, Marie! We need to unpack our things." The sound of Jojo's voice behind us has Mimi and I turning our heads, where I see my favorite cousin dragging my forgotten red suitcase up to us.

Without a single complaint, I hop onto my feet and take my things from him with a content smile when he reaches down to stroke the back of my head and neck.

"Come on, you can hang out with Mimi all you want after we've put our things in our room. We'll be sharing a room with Matt and TK," Jojo informs me as I place my hand in his, pulling me along towards the cabin with an patient smile.

It's while I'm in the middle of digging through my suitcase for my sketchbook when TK makes his reappearance and accidentally sneaks up on me. Ten minutes in and my jumpy nature already shows- though I can hardly help it since I'm not used to the kids around. Mimi is definitely a more trustworthy one among the rest since she's at least sat down to talk to me, but I'm still uneasy even then.

Maybe I'll never get used to it again...

"Hey, Marie!" TK's voice cheerfully blurts out from behind me, resulting in a spectacular flinch that sends my skull banging loudly against the underside of the top bunk where Jojo would be sleeping. I don't like heights at all, so I was pretty grateful when he left me the bottom bunk.

...Based on the throbbing of my head as of now, however, I'm not so sure it's a good thing anymore.

An embarrassing yelp flies from my mouth as pain registers atop my head, causing TK's older brother to abruptly whirl around from the two bunks on the other side of the room. Jojo isn't here right now, because I made him leave me in the cabin to catch up with some of the other kids. I told him I'd be fine alone for a bit, but he seemed kind of guilty leaving me with my own devices.

Especially after recent events...

...

"Marie, are you alright?!" I hear Matt fuss as he helps me back out from the bottom bunk, guiding me so that I'm seated on the edge of the bed instead. My head throbs painfully for a good couple of minutes, until all that's left is a gentle annoying headache.

"Ah! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" TK panics, looking horrified as he watches his big brother carefully probe the top of my head with his fingers and ask where it's hurting the most.

I'm a little peeved to be honest, but since I understand it wasn't his intention to hurt me, I offer TK a weak smile. "It's okay. I know you didn't mean to," I say, before flinching when Matt finally touches a raw area of my head. "R-right there."

"How much does it hurt? A little, or a lot?" Matt asks, gently pressing the spot some more for my verdict.

I don't want to tell him that it's given me a terrible headache and risk making his younger brother feel worse, so I wrinkle my nose only slightly at the pain and lie. "Just when it's pressed on."

Matt seems to buy my statement and sighs in relief, though he turns to glance over down at his little brother with a mild scowl. "So now we know not to sneak up on people, _right_ , TK?"

TK's cheeks dust a reddish tint of embarrassment as he pouts bashfully up at his brother. "Right, Matt..."

 _He looks upset,_ I think, biting my lip before giving the younger of the brothers a smile. I reach out and grab hold of his hand so he shifts his gaze to me instead. "It's fine, don't worry," I reiterate for TK, watching him stare at me quietly... Before a smile extends across his face. At the sight, I relax a little more and feel my headache begin to dwindle.

"...Hm?" Matt, TK, and I turn when we hear the sound of someone opening our room door. As my eyes catch sight of Tai entering our room, I draw my limbs closer to myself. His face is an expression of confusion as he looks around our room curiously, before his brown eyes land on the three of us by my bunk. "Oh, there you are. What was that noise? Izzy and I heard something loud from here."

His sudden presence nearly has my body locking up anxiously, but I manage to relax myself after a moment or two. No need to cause another fuss by running off.

"I accidentally snuck up on Marie... And she hit her head," TK relays the events to Tai, his smile sheepish once more as Matt rolls his eyes behind his younger brother with a sigh of resignation. I didn't think I made that loud of a noise...

"Yeesh. Sounded really painful! It even managed to snap Izzy out of his 'computer mojo' zone," Tai comments with a small chuckle, before walking over towards us. "You okay?" He asks me specifically.

 _He's talking to me again,_ I register, heart jumping to my throat as I attempt to formulate an interpretable response to his query. I don't want him to think badly of me... I really want him to like me!

"I'm fine, it doesn't hurt anymore," I lie again, although I'm sure my words will be the truth sooner or later since my headache is continuing to decrease in throbbing.

"That's good to hear!" Tai says with a grin, before reaching over to pat the side of my face in a friendly manner, his bright smile infectious. I have to bite my lip to repress my smile, but only Matt appears to take notice of it. Tai, oblivious to my struggle of keeping a Mimi-like squeal of glee from escaping me, continues with, "You're a little toughie, aren't you?"

At this point, I'm like a sapling absorbing every little bit of his praising sunlight, nodding dumbly.

After that bit, Tai wishes the best for my head's recovery and leaves the room once more so I can continue searching for my drawing book- this time without my head being in the hazardous depths of the bunk bed.

"So... How old are you, Marie?" TK asks curiously after Yamato makes his way out of the room after Tai, leaving TK and I alone to converse while he deals with whatever conversation he wants to have with the brown haired boy.

"I turned eight earlier this year," I answer him, looking over my shoulder at the curious boy as he watches me sort through my belongings to pull out a small drawstring knapsack that I immediately swing over my back. "How about you?"

"Me? Oh, I turned seven this year... Guess I'm the smallest one in the group. I was hoping Izzy was maybe close to my age, but he's nine- only looks younger 'cause he's a bit short," TK says with a mildly crestfallen expression, looking down at his feet shyly. "I don't know if anyone would want to play with me since I'm so small- even Matt goes off on his own sometimes to be with Sora and Tai, so I'm usually by myself."

"Oh... I can play with you if they leave you alone," I say when I see the look on his face. He appears to have the same fears I have with our elders leaving us to ourselves, making TK look up in surprise.

"You will? Even if you're a year older?" TK cocked his head to the side slightly, as if he were confused about my statement.

"Why not?" I answered questioningly. "Is it wrong?"

"Well, no, but-" TK began, fumbling for words to answer.

"Then I see no problem with it," I said, getting off the bed after giving up on looking for my drawing book. I faced TK and smiled at him. "What do you wanna do first?"

...

"Let's go exploring outside!" TK declared, making me straighten up jokingly and salute him.

"Aye, Captain Takeru! I'll follow you, sir!" I declared with a grin, making TK grab my hand and drag me out of the outhouse in clear excitement.

"I found this really, really, _really_ cool cave about ten meters from camp, and I wanted to show someone! Taichi was too busy though, so it'll be our little secret!" TK explains, my blue eyes locking with Sora- who stands by Matt, Jojo and Tai just outside of the outhouse. I give her a shy smile that prompts her to cocks her head in curiosity, but continue following TK despite the red flag that has erected in the back of my mind. Something tells me I should be worried about her saying something to Matt or Jojo, but... She'd only do that unless we were doing something wrong. This cave isn't too far from camp, _is_ it?

"Matt won't get mad that we're straying a little far from camp, will he?" I ask curiously, making TK hum in slight thought.

"Not sure. But as long as we have each other, I don't think it's too much of a problem," TK answers honestly with a slight shrug, making me smile back timidly. I sure hope he's right...

I already know TK and I are going to get along very nicely.

"We're here, Marie- Oh, wait. Uh, I mean- we have arrived at base camp, Lieutenant Marie!" TK says proudly, straightening up once we reach a small cave near a jacuzzi sized pool of water with a waterfall as clear blue as a crystal.

"Whoa, Captain Takeru! That's a really pretty waterfall- I kinda wish I was wearing my swimming suit right now," I say brightly in response, the two of us walking towards the pool of water and kneeling by the edge to peer through the clear liquid.

"Hey, I see fish," TK comments in mild surprise, making me blink and squint to try and see them as well. Are they deeper in the water? Or is my eyesight just bad?

"Where?" I query in confusion, moving my head around to try and see what he's seeing. After a moment, TK laughs at my obvious struggle and lifts a hand to point at the center of the pool of water.

"They're tiny and gray- just stare at one spot and you'll be able to see them moving," TK states, right before turning to the water and dipping a curious finger in. I follow his instructions. After a moment or two of staring, I grin when I notice the vast amount of tiny fish swimming around the pond.

A gasp of surprise escapes me as I watch them squirm around, speeding around the small pool of water with movements my eyes can barely catch. "They look like tadpoles," I comment, just as TK stands up and grasps my free hand to help me up on my feet too.

"Okay, let's check out that cave now," TK cheers with a hyped expression of excitement. "I can't wait to see what's in there!"

TK leads the way, leaving me to follow beside him as we enter the cave and gradually walk deeper and deeper. The further we trudge on, the more the light starts to fade out on us and diminish into an inky darkness.

"Captain Takeru, I'm kinda scared of the dark... Could I hold your hand?" I ask softly after a minute of silence in the cave, causing TK to pause beside me in the darkness. I can barely see the outline of him at this point.

"Oh, uh, sure! But only 'cause _you're_ scared. I'm not scared at all," TK responds, sounding more like he's trying to reassure himself rather than me. I decide not to linger on that detail though, and accept his confirmation.

"Thank you," I reply with a small smile of relief in the dark, searching for his hand and eventually latching onto it as we continue to go deeper and deeper through the cave.

After a while of walking, TK speaks again to brighten things up.

"Hey, Lieutenant?" He inquires beside me, our arms linked as we walk in the darkness together carefully. So far it's only been a straight tunnel, and the most dangerous thing we've come across is a misstep onto a rock that nearly had me and TK slamming into the ground face first. Thankfully, we managed to catch ourselves before anything could happen.

"Yeah, Captain?"

"What's second grade like?" TK continues after a moment of hesitation, giving me a moment to think up a short and overall descriptive sentence to answer him.

"It's not as easy as first grade, but I think the challenge is nice. I like what I learn," I decide to answer him with, just as we hit a wall and both squeak when we walk right into it.

"Oh... A dead end? That's a let down- we were walking for so long," TK mopes a bit while I reach out to feel along the wall until I find an empty area of air to our left.

"Hey, it keeps going to the left of this wall!" I say upon the new discovery, unable to keep the smile growing from my face. This is a lot more fun than I originally thought it would be!

"Really? Good work, Lieutenant!" TK applauds, the both of us walking along the side of the tunnel and using our hands to make sure we don't stray and run into any more walls. Well, I'm not sure if TK is doing the same thing as me, but I'm certainly using the wall of the tunnel as a directory. I don't wanna hurt myself in here and get stuck I'd TK has to leave me, bring help, and just so happens to be unable to find his way back to me.

"TK?" I ask out loud.

"Yeah? What is it?" He responds, causing me to bite my lip in realization.

 _We should probably head back so Matt and Jojo wouldn't worry about us..._

"I-" I start to say until we begin to see a light ahead, making my words cut off at the sight. The end of the tunnel? "Hey, is that a light?"

"Whoa! It looks like it! Let's go check it out!" TK exclaims, skirting around me and running off so quickly that I barely have the time to grasp what's going on.

I want to call him back in case it's dangerous, but evidently release the wall and end up running after him silently- not wanting to be left behind _either_.

When I emerge from the tunnel after TK, I'm immediately blinded by the daylight, making me rub my eyes a little before looking up and gawking at the small woodsy area greener than even the greenest house on Jojo's house street... Which is actually our house, now that I was thinking about it.

That pond and waterfall from before seems to connect to this area too, as there's this large crystal clear lake of gold fish at the end with a small waterfall covering a small dome cavern behind it.

"Whoa! Isn't this amazing, Marie?! Who would have guessed this was back he-!" TK begins in astonishment until a voice cut him off from out of nowhere.

 _"TK!_ What did I tell you about straying too far from camp?"

" _Gyah!"_ TK blurts out in surprise before the two of us whirl around to see Matt, Sora, Jojo and Tai standing right behind us.

"Uh... We didn't think this was far enough to count! I mean... Was it?" TK asks them innocently with a sheepish grin, causing Matt to cross his arms and glare at his little brother.

While looking at the brothers, I don't initially notice Jojo carefully walking closer to me, only catching his concealed and sneaky movements once he's within grabbing range. I spring back a few steps when I realize what he's aiming to do, much to the confusion of the other kids when they notice the anxious expression that's formed over my features.

No, don't tell me he's going to punish me with... _That!_

"I'm sorry!" I squeak fearfully upon the thought, making Jojo slip his bag off of his shoulder and shake his head at me.

"I don't think so, you're not getting off the hook that easily," Jojo responds matter-of-factly.

There's truly only one thought circulating through my brain in this moment.

 _I don't want Jojo to embarrass me in front of Tai!_

Out of desperation, I spin around and charge for a tree, grabbing the nearest branch I can reach and pulling myself up it quickly just as Jojo makes a lunge to grab me and deliver... _Punishment._

Narrowly avoiding him, I pull myself up on the branch and look down at my cousin below with a breath of relief as I climb a few branches higher just in case. I hear Jojo release a loud groan of annoyancr, "Marie! Get down here!"

I glance back down from the sturdy thick branch I'm sitting on and shake my head at him defiantly, despite my timidness. No way! I don't want to be punished in front of Tai! Being scolded like this in front of him is bad enough as it is!

I'm just about to say something in response when something cold lands on my cheek.

I make a face of confusion and prod at my cheek until I pull my fingers away to reveal a drop of water on my fingertips.

"Huh?" I question in confusion, looking up in time for another cold substance to flutter straight into my eye.

Surprised at the landing spot, I snap my eyes shut with a small yip of discomfort, flinching back and rubbing my eyes only to suddenly feel my body swing backwards as soon as I recline too far to bring myself back to balance on the branch.

"Marie!" I hear TK yell in alarm. Thankfully, Jojo is mostly used to this and doesn't even seem to be remotely panicked when he catches me in his arms with a sigh and a shake of his head.

"If you're gonna climb things all the time, the _least_ you could do is learn not to fall out of high places and scare anyone else who doesn't know you well enough," Jojo scolds me, causing me to sweat drop in embarrassment.

"Whoops... Sorry," I say sheepishly, glad to see that the fall has at least placated his initial annoyance and urge to punish me further. "I was just surprised. It's starting to snow."

"Huh? _Snow?_ It's summertime!" Sora says in disbelief as Jojo helps me straighten up and readjusts my rumpled hair.

Before anything else can be said, a blast of chilly air hit all six of us along with a hand full of white specks that are unarguably flakes of genuine snow.

"Whoa! Tell that to the weather! Doesn't seem like it got the memo!" Tai states dryly before gesturing towards the cave we'd gone through. "We should get back to camp, this isn't weather we should be in with the clothing we have on right now."

Jojo takes my hand and nods to Tai. "You're right! Come on, Marie," he says while TK, Matt, and Sora follow Tai, Jojo and I.

I take a final glance at the sky nervously.

 _Something's not right about this weather..._ I think, just before the cave walls creep over us to conceal the chilly gray sky above.

 **End of Chapter 1**

 **A/N: edited 12/11/17**


	2. Ch 2: Bird of the Woods

**Chapter 2**

* * *

 ***Marie's P.O.V.***

I shivered beside Jojo and hugged my small red backpack tighter as we looked up at the cloudy sky, watching the others play in the snow and throw it about playfully.

"Well, the weather _has_ been a bit temperamental lately…" Jojo began thoughtfully, adjusting his glasses just as a series of colorful lights appeared in the sky.

I felt my lips pout slightly. "A _bit?"_ I repeated.

"Okay, okay, so maybe more than a bit," Jojo agreed with a look of worry. "Not much we can do about it though…"

"Izzy, come out, you need to see this!" I heard Tai call out as Jojo and I approached the rest of them to look up at what was undoubtedly an aurora.

"Wow! How romantic, it's beautiful, isn't it?" Mimi said dreamily just as Izzy came up beside Sora and I.

"Hey, is that…?!" Izzy began in surprise.

"Yeah. It's an aurora," Sora finished with an expression of worry etched across her face. "I've never seen one before."

"But… That's impossible! This is Japan, we're way too far south for this phenomena in our area!" Izzy claimed, just as I began to notice something in the distance right where the aurora was.

"We should probably go back towards the main rendezvous point of camp, I don't want any of us catching colds!" I heard Jojo suggest, my body half wanting to join him and half wanting to stay and examine the aurora more.

After a few moments of standing there with everyone (including Jojo), I finally started to notice that something getting closer and more identifiable.

"Hey… Do you see that?" I asked TK, who stood in front of me and squinted at where I was pointing.

"Green light…?" TK wondered out loud, just as it began to grow bigger and bigger until I realized it wad an object- an object headed in _our_ direction.

"J-Jojo…!" I started in alarm, taking a step back.

All of a sudden, from the single green light, the object split into eight and plummeted down towards us at a speed I knew we wouldn't be able to outrun.

I yelped when they came crashing down around us, curling up on the snow covered ground until the loud thumps and the cloud of thrown smoke and dust cleared to reveal…

"Hey, is everyone okay?" Sora was first to shout, making me stand up anxiously along with the others. Scanning our group quickly, I sighed in relief when I realized no one had gotten hurt. Jojo looked a little spooked, but he was nonetheless fine.

"We're alright, Sora," Matt answered for the rest of us who were still petrified of what had happened. I felt like I'd dodged a bullet!

"That was scary," Mimi whimpered, holding her pink cowgirl hat tightly while I got back on my feet at Sora's side.

"Yeah it was! ...But what _was_ it?" Jojo asked, prompting Izzy to crawl to a spot in the ground by my cousin and him.

"Some sort of meteor? Or…" Izzy began until a thin beam of light erupted from the spot he was crawling towards. "Uh, okay, so it's _not_ meteors."

Curiously, everyone else stood up as well, watching what looked to be blue objects floating up from the ground slowly enough that we could grab them.

With everyone else unsure about how to deal with the event, Taichi took hold of the flying object in front of himself first, and then I followed everyone else, Jojo grabbing his last so as not to be left out.

Sora and I looked at the objects in our hand first.

"Wh… What are these?" She asked while I glanced down at the small digital object in my hand.

It was in a slightly octagonal shape with a square mid section and long horizontally lengthened appearance that had a shimmering golden exterior to it.

Glancing over at Sora's, I blinked in confusion when I found hers to be a pale gray color unlike mine. Why was hers different?

Curious, I looked at everyone else and furrowed my brow when I noticed the rest of the kids had gray devices as well. I was the only kid with a gold one.

"Not a clue. They look like electronic devices…" I heard Izzy say just when I noticed something climbing up from the cliff before us, causing my eyes to widen in horror.

I instinctually inched towards Jojo and linked my arm instantly with his. He glanced at me in confusion before he too looked up and then let out a shout of shock.

"Forget the devices, we have bigger things to worry about!" I heard Tai shout in equal alarm.

One moment, I was standing next to Jojo with our arms linked, the next I was falling and flipping through the air by myself through a space in which up and down was in every direction.

The only thing I clung to was the gold device that had fallen at my feet seconds before as my vision slowly began to fade to black.

* * *

…!

My eyes snapped open and I sprung up on all fours with a gasp of horror.

" _Jojo!"_ I shouted off the bat, only to look around and see myself in the middle of what looked to be a metallic tunnel or vent.

I snapped my jaw shut and nervously glanced around before I came to the conclusion that Jojo and the others weren't around.

 _Around_ where _though? Where am I?_ I thought as I proceeded to crawl through the tunnel carefully. Wherever I was, vents were _definitely_ not a safe place to reside in.

I eventually came across a split path, but didn't bother to waste my time determining which way was best for me to go through. I didn't even know where I was, I couldn't guess what outcome to expect at the end of either paths.

When I finally emerged from the vent, I found myself in the middle of a forest. My brow furrowed in confusion as I crawled onto a thick tree branch just outside the metal tunnel, looking back only to balk at what I was witnessing.

 _What?! A random vent suspended by the trees? What kind of joke is this?_ I thought until a noise caught my attention. It sounded like... Somebody screaming?

I winced at the volume of the noise but managed to bring myself to start climbing down from the tree to get to ground level. I wasn't sure how high I was in the trees since I couldn't see the bottom from where I was.

There was a part of me yearning to shout for Jojo and the others, but my brain was also trying to convince me to be quiet rather than scream all willy-nilly. Something told me to be on guard... And I didn't like it.

"...Ah!" I cried out when I took a bad step and slid from the tree a bit. My palm stung from a scrape of maybe a tree thorn, but I ignored it in favor to regain my footing and continue the rest of the way down until I felt the sensation of grass under my red sandals and toes.

 _I should have put my sneakers on when we reached camp like Jojo told me to do..._ I thought bleakly as I turned to regard the forest. _Am I near the camp? What was with that tower of water back when we were looking at... The devices!_

I looked down at my left hand to find that I'd been gripping the golden device tightly the entire time without any notice.

Still unsure of what it was, I began poking at the buttons curiously until something appeared over the black pixilated screen.

...The time?

"What...?" I wondered, scratching my head in confusion. What was an unidentifiable object falling from _the_ _sky_ doing with an AM/PM clock? And besides that, where did all the snow from before go?

"…Hm?"

I looked up from my golden device at the sound of someone nearby. From the place I stood at, I could see someone standing a few trees ahead of me, glancing over in my direction.

No… Not someone. A bird. Then again… It looked like a big bird- and nothing like the cheerful chirping pigeons around Jojo and I's home.

For a very long moment, I stared at it and it stared back. Despite the urge to start looking for Jojo and the other campers, I couldn't bring myself to walk away just yet.

This bird had big blue eyes much like mine, excluding the fact that we were different species, of course. A soft layer of chocolate brown feathers covered it's entire body, with an olive green coloring around it's muzzle and two long red tipped black feathers serving what I could only imagine were eyebrows.

It barely moved at all, making it appear like merely a statue in the tree. Somehow, I knew I should have been scared of it, but the initial sensations of fear did not flood my senses. If anything, I was much more relaxed than anything, despite being lost and separated from my cousin.

…

"Um…" I began nervously, my words meant only for my ears since I didn't expect a bird to pay attention to a human it couldn't understand. "Why is it staring at me?"

All of a sudden, as soon as the words left my mouth, the bird's brow suddenly turned down towards the middle and it jumped off from the branch it stood on, landing directly in front of me with a loud thump to give me a better look at it.

My breath was caught in my throat when I found the need to look up at it. The bird was huge! It stood a few heads taller than me, looking down with such a sharp glare that I began to shiver as I stuck the golden device in my knit pants pocket and zipped the zipper shut.

Such a rebellious action to what I'd said seconds before… Could it understand me? It _looked_ like a bird, but was much different to birds I'd seen before… So if not a bird, then what?

"Are you an alien?" I decided to ask, in hopes that my earlier assumption of a successful communication was correct.

To my surprise, it's frown relaxed slightly. It didn't answer me though. If anything, it was giving me a dry look of annoyance.

After a few moments of staring at each other more, it suddenly walked around me and headed in the direction my back faced.

Curious, I watched it continue until there was a generous amount of space between us. Once I decided that it had tired of my presence, I looked away from it and scanned my surroundings.

 _Where did everyone go? Are they around here too? How will I find them?_

I was just about to take a step in the opposite direction from which the avian creature had left from when a stomp had me freezing mid step.

It came from behind me.

I looked back to see the bird standing in the spot in which I'd looked away from, staring back at me intently with an indeterminable expression on it's face. It had one foot of talons stomped into the ground and didn't look away from me this time.

 _Strange… Does it want me to follow it?_

I jogged in it's direction until I stood next to it, the bird following my every move with it's sharp blue eyes until I'd caught up with it. As soon as I was situated at it's side, it looked forward and started to walk.

 _Yes, it wants me to follow it,_ I decided, my legs moving faster to keep up with it's longer bird feet.

Minutes of silence passed, but it wasn't uncomfortable or anything. I didn't know what kind of creature this bird-looking thing was… But it seemed to understand things as well as I could. Not to mention it didn't seem dangerous. If anything, I felt much safer with it than I'd felt when I woke up in the tree vents by myself.

I didn't like being alone…

* * *

"…The ocean?" I asked out loud in mild surprise once the bird and I emerged from the forest.

 _What is the ocean doing here? There was no ocean where Jojo and I were going camping!_

I stared at the endless sparkling blue water that greeted me past the shore before shaking the thought out of my head and turning to face the bird that had led me out of the forest I'd been in.

"Thank you very much for leading me out," I said with a respectful bow, making the bird blink at me before then turning to face it's body towards me and giving me a bow as well.

Pleased with the mutual understanding, I smiled brightly and gave it a wave when it headed back into the woods it had led me out of.

"Stay safe!" I called out cheerfully until it vanished between the trees and vegetation.

As soon as I was sure it was gone, I let out a sigh and faced the ocean again. My eyes widened when I noticed a row of what looked to be either telephone boxes or portable bathroom stalls.

My walking was done, I went into a full on run when I spotted them on the shore, only stopping once I was in one of the booths. My excitement spiked when I found a telephone in every single one of the stalls, connected into the earth and ready for use whenever I decided.

I breathlessly swung my red backpack from behind me and opened it up, digging past the snacks (which reminded me that I'd yet to eat anything) and snatching out my orange wallet to pull my phone card out.

"Okay, lets see… I'll try Auntie's home first," I said to myself, closing my back pack and dropping it at my feet as I slid the card on the card sniper and dialed Jojo's house number.

There was a droning dial tone at my ears, and then-

"Konnichiwa!" I heard a woman on the line greet me.

"Auntie! It's me, Mar-" I began until the voice cut me off to continue with, "To make international calls to Jupiter, please deposit seventeen cucumber slices and a frog in the next thirty seconds."

My brow curved down the middle in a frown. Did the phone just say what I thought it said?

It's no matter, maybe the next phone booth?

I grabbed my backpack and slammed the phone back on it's receiver, moving to the next stall and picking the phone up.

I slid the card and dialed the next number I could think of, cousin Shin's number. The elder brother of Shuu and Jojo.

"Please leave a print signature at the sound of the tone. BA-GAWK!"

I yanked the phone from my ear and dropped it so that it hung from it's cord.

Ridiculous! What was going on with these phones? What phone tells you it makes calls to other planets?

I crossed my arms and gave the phone before me a look of disappointment. "Useless piece of scrap metal…"

"MARIE!"

My body straightened at the sound of the familiar voice, causing me to turn my head in all directions until I noticed the large group of both familiar and unfamiliar faces alike headed towards me and the phones.

My massive smile returned when I spotted Jojo and my camping comrades headed towards the phone booths and I. Mostly though, I was just happy to have my favorite cousin back again.

"JOJO!" I chirped in relief, racing out of the phone booth and leaving my backpack abandoned in the second stall as I charged like the road runner past every other person until I had my arms wrapped around my blue haired cousin's waist and my cheek pressed against his stomach.

"Thank goodness! I was so worried when we didn't find you around the forest up in the mountains where we all landed!" Jojo said in equal relief when I pulled back to meet his gaze.

He adjusted his glasses and sighed, pulling his arms back and crossing them thoughtfully. "I'm just glad you didn't have to deal with Kwagamon back there."

My faced went blank in confusion. "Kwagamon? Who's Kwagamon?" I asked curiously.

"Hold on, no need to scare her about it Joe, she might not understand what's around… We don't know what Marie's been through yet, maybe she doesn't know what's going on," Sora suddenly stepped in to my further confusion.

"Did you guys see big birds too?" I decided to ask, causing Tai to shake his head and laugh nervously.

"No, but don't worry about a thing! We're all together now, that's what matters!" Tai said proudly with his hands on his hips.

"Yes, yes! Our team has assembled!" A child sized orange dinosaur…

Dinosaur…

…Dino…saur...

Confused, I looked beside all of them to see a strange creature at each of their sides.

An orange blue eyed dinosaur-like creature by Tai, a pink and blue feathered bird beside Sora, a blue, yellow, and white fur coated single horned creature at Matt's side, A lady-bug like insect beside Izzy, a sweet flower like creature beside Mimi, an orange and tan four legged bat-winged animal with TK, and…

I glanced down at Jojo's side to spot one of the cutest things I'd ever seen in my life.

"Hi!" It suddenly spoke, raising what looked to be a white and lavender striped clawed flipper. Along it's head was a small orange mohawk-like mane, and it looked to be a furry sea critter.

"Jojo, where did you guys…?" I asked, kneeling down by the sea critter's side and gently pulling it on my lap to caress the side of it's face like I would with a cat.

"Yeah, _'Jojo'_ , why not do the honors and introduce us all?" The sea creature jokingly mocked, pressing it's cheek against my hand much like a domestic animal would to signal more petting.

"Let's take a seat together and we'll get you caught up on everything," Matt suggested, making me stand up with the sea critter in my arms.

"Hehe, 'Jojo'…" I heard the critter mutter humorously by my ear, though my cousin's abrupt scoff made me smile a little.

When we all sat down, I found myself next to Jojo (a given), and TK, who held his own little creature friend.

"First things first," Tai began, causing me to tilt my head slightly. "Marie, where did you wake up?"

I looked back at the forest that was now far away from where we all were by the phone booths. "I woke up inside a vent in the trees of that forest over there."

"Eh?! That's Wandering Woods though! How did you manage to get out? Most Digimon never find their way out of that place!" The blue fur coated creature beside Matt spoke up in shock.

"Digimon?" I repeated softly before looking down at the creature on my lap that was watching me with intelligent eyes and a twinkle of glee. "So they're Digimon?"

"Y-yes. You're pretty sharp," Izzy stated across from me in clear surprise.

"Anyways, I didn't get out on my own. I didn't even know I could get lost in there. I met a big bird and it led me out here," I explained, caressing the aquatic Digimon on my lap again.

"Oh? What did it look like?" Matt's Digimon friend inquired.

"Err… it was brown with green feathers around it's neck," I explained, causing all the Digimon to do double takes.

"I'm afraid that's not descriptive enough…" The bug Digimon beside Izzy said somewhat apologetically.

"Well… I could sketch it out then," I said, placing Jojo's Digimon friend aside and getting up to jog to my forgotten red backpack in the second phone booth.

"Ah! We almost forgot! We can call someone and-" Jojo began, just about to stand until I shot the phone a leer of annoyance.

"Don't bother, Jojo. They're useless unless you want to call someone on Pluto," I stated, causing my cousin to blanch In disbelief.

"No…" He sulked while I pulled my sketchbook out and took a seat to start doodling.

Something as simple shaped as that Digimon was fairly easy to sketch, details and all. Took me about five minutes to finish and bring it back over to Matt's Digimon friend.

"This is the Digimon," I said, gleeful to see the immediate look of recognition from the blue creatures eyes.

"Ah, I see! You met Falcomon!" The Digimon exclaimed while I sat back down beside Joe an TK.

Adorably enough, Jojo's Digimon friend crawled back on my lap, where I continued to lavish him with caresses along his back and cheek.

"Falcomon?" Mimi said, leaning over the Digimon to get a good look at my work. She audibly gasped. "Wow, Marie! You're very talented at drawing!"

"Thanks, that's just a rough sketch though. I could still do with some improvement too," I said modestly, pulling my hands from the Digimon to grab at my blonde ponytail insecurely.

"So Falcomon led you out of the forest… And then?" The blue Digimon beside Matt pushed.

"Well… I thanked it and when I saw these phone booths, I thought I could try to call someone for help. I dialed Jojo and I's home, but those phones don't really work well."

"Hmm, You tried the first two?" Tai asked, to which I nodded at him once the Digimon in my lap untangled my hands from my ponytail and got me to continues showering it with attention. "Can't hurt to try the rest of them once we get you caught up."

"Hey, Marie… Didn't you wake up with a small Digimon near you too?" TK asked at my side curiously, hugging his orange batty friend.

"No. I was by myself," I repeated, causing a heavy silence to fill the circle. Anxious at the sudden looks of worry on their faces, I stopped caressing Joe's Digimon friend and bit my lip.

Did I say something wrong? Was I _supposed_ to wake up with my own Digimon friend?

"G-Guys, don't worry! She's got all of us to take care of her," Jojo spoke up at my side, suddenly wrapping an arm around my shoulders and giving me a smile that I didn't hesitate to return. "Don't be scared, your favorite cousin is here with you, okay?"

"Okay, Favorite Cousin Jojo, time for introductions," his Digimon friend said on my lap, looking at me after regarding Jojo. "I'm Gomamon! Joe's Digimon partner."

"I'm Gabumon, and Yamato is my partner," the blue fur coated Digimon by Matt said with a respectful bow in my direction as he handed my sketchbook back to me.

"Sora is Piyomon's partner! Sora is the best!" The pink bird beside Sora cooed ever so sweetly by the orange haired girl. Sora looked kind of embarrassed and maybe a little annoyed, but I found Piyomon's affection to be rather cute.

"I'm Patamon! I'm partners with Takeru!" The Digimon in TK's arms chimed in cheerily.

"You can call me Palmon. I'm with Mimi!" The green Digimon with a pretty pink flower atop it's head said beside Mimi.

It was then that I noticed that Mimi was staring very intently at me, causing me to tilt my head in confusion. "What's wrong, Mimi?" I asked.

Her nostrils suddenly flared. "SO. CUTE!" She squealed, suddenly stamping her feet lightly and grabbing Palmon for tight hug that had the plant Digimon coughing and begging for air. "Isn't Marie so adorable? I wish I could take her home with me!"

I felt my cheeks heat up considerably but managed to look at the next pairing.

"My name is Tentomon. I'm partners with Koushiro-han," The insect Digimon declared, turning to face Izzy.

"Agumon! Partner to Taichi!" The small orange dino-digi shouted with shining eyes.

"Okay, well now that she knows you, meet Marie Kido. She's my cousin and in the third grade!" Jojo introduced me to the Digimon with a grin.

"Nice to meet you all," I said happily.

"The pleasure is all ours!" Tentomon said before the other kids all stood up and turned to look at the phone booths.

"Alright, let's try a few numbers then. I have a phone card if anyone needs to make a call," Izzy said, making me stand up as well after putting Gomamon down.

"Here Jojo, you can use ours," I said, unzipping my pocket to hand the phone card to him.

"Thanks!" He said before hustling after the other kids.

Rather than follow for more disappointment, I sat back down and pulled my knees up to my chest.

"…Gomamon," I voiced after a second, hearing the Digimon hum for me to continue. "What did Joe mean when he mentioned Kwagamon?"

I looked down at Gomamon to my left when I heard him audibly squeak in discomfort.

"Never mind, don't answer that," I decided since I could only come up with two scenarios as to why Sora and the others didn't tell me what had happened. I bit my lip. "I guess I already know."

Gomamon gave me a sad look but then smiled reassuringly and moved to crawl onto my lap. "I promise I'll take care of Joe for you. Nothing will happen to him as long as I'm around!"

 _I guess I'm not the only sharp tool around here,_ I thought humorously before smiling at Gomamon. "Thank you," I said, caressing his cheek and making the Digimon slump over as if he were in heaven.

"Hey, Joe, you're about to lose Gomamon to Marie," I heard Sora laugh as she headed back over towards me with Piyomon at her heels.

"You we're right about the phones, they're fishy alright," Piyomon said after Sora took a seat beside me. Gomamon simply flopped over in my lap so I could rub his belly too.

"Yeah. I don't think we're near the camp grounds at all," I said while TK started walking over to us with Patamon, Matt, and TK.

While staring off ahead and running my fingers through Gomamon's fur, I got lost in my thoughts.

Something was strange about this place. I couldn't put my finger on it, but this place… Since I woke up, I felt like I was somewhat too relaxed for being in a strange place. Shouldn't I have been worried? Maybe I was tired? I didn't _feel_ sleepy… Actually, now that I was thinking about it, I felt a bit agitated. Like I woke up on the wrong side of the bed or something.

"Doesn't look like your cousin's going to give up quite yet, eh?" I heard Tai say near me, causing my heart to nearly leap out of my ribcage then and there to run off into a sunset.

I felt my entire body lock up, releasing me from my previous relaxed sensations as I looked at him carefully and smiled. "Oh, yeah… He can be a tad bit stubborn, but I'd like to think it comes useful since he's good at school."

"Hm… What about you? Are you a brainiac like Joe?" He asked next, arms resting behind his head as he glanced down at me from where he stood.

" _Taichi!"_ I heard Sora scold Tai, resulting in a small laugh from me.

"I'd like to think I am, but I'm pretty sure I'm not at Jojo's level," I said modestly.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again… You're too reserved, Marie," Jojo said as he approached the rest of us, swinging the first aid bag off from his shoulder and onto the ground beside Sora, Piyomon, and I. "Marie is a genius actually. Ask her straight 'A' report cards. Besides that though…"

Joe turned his attention to Mimi, who sat on TK's other side with Palmon. "Hmm? What?" The cowgirl wannabe asked when Jojo trained his gaze on her.

"Did you forget it was _your_ turn to carry the first-aid bag?" Jojo inquired, causing Mimi to pout and bring her knees up to her chest.

"I can't. It's too heavy for me! I'm way too fragile to carry that!" Mimi claimed, frowning a little at Jojo.

"Never mind that, guys! Is there any other food that we have?" Sora spoke up again, making Mimi and I grab our bags and dump out a few items hidden in them. I simply gathered whatever wasn't ingestible back into my bag. Mimi didn't seem to have food on her, just survival gear tucked away for later use.

"Wait a minute, is that a _compass?"_ Matt suddenly asked in disbelief as he snatched it up off of the ground. "Why didn't you tell us you had one back when we needed it?!"

Mimi gave him an innocent smile. "Oh, well… It doesn't work. It's broken, actually."

Matt looked ready to snap at her, but Izzy quickly stepped it. "Well it's a good thing it didn't work. Or else Marie would still be by herself," the red haired kid pointed out, causing Matt to relax at the thought.

"Huh, good point," Matt agreed, crossing his arms like he somehow didn't like the truth of it.

As if it would troublesome to find me if I were lost. Was this really the same Matt that had been thoroughly concerned when I'd hit my head back in camp?

"Excuse me for being trouble, _meanie,"_ I huffed heatedly to myself under my breath, low enough that it seemed like no one heard me.

"I have a few snacks," TK said while I hugged Gomamon against me gently, watching TK turning over his own backpack to show his snacks to everyone.

"Ooo, those look tasty!" Mimi said between the two of us as she and Palmon glanced from each pile to the other.

"Lets see what I've got… I think all I have is-?" Sora began before a look of surprise crossed her features. I turned my attention to her as she pulled out one of the gray devices she'd gotten before we'd landed here. "Oh, look!"

* * *

 **Chapter 2 End**

 **A/N: Hope this is satisfactory work! Thank you for reading! I know only one person has Faved and Followed so far, but THANK YOU anyways!**


	3. Ch 3: Marie to the Rescue!

**Chapter 3**

* * *

 ***Marie's P.O.V.***

I blinked at Sora's device curiously, watching as the rest of the kids pulled their devices out as well. With Gomamon still slouched over in my lap contently, I decided against taking mine out, which was much different than everyone else's. If they asked, I'd just say I didn't get one.

"I still have mine too," Tai commented, pulling his from the waistband of his shorts.

"Oh, mines attached to my bag," Mimi said, raising her bag to show the device after she'd gathered all her survival items back into it.

"I have one too!" TK cheered before looking at me in confusion. "You got one too, didn't you?"

I abruptly shook my head, feeling the sting of regret pierce my heart as soon as the lie left me.

"Oh," TK said, only for me to turn away watch as the other kids studied their devices.

"This must mean something…" Izzy stated in thought before the sound of his tummy rumbling brought everyone out of their state of thought. He gave us a sheepish grin and nervously laughed. "Er, weren't we talking about food just now?"

Sora laughed but pulled open her pink fanny pack to bring out a few things. "Anyways, I was going to say that all I have are a few first aid things. Disinfectant, band-aids, and a thread and needle," Sora explained before tucking them back away.

"All I've got is my laptop and digital camera. None of them have worked since we got here though," Izzy explained, opening his bag to try switching on his computer.

"Why would you even bring a computer to summer camp anyways?" Tai asked in confusion, leaning down to look at the computer.

"What do you have?" Izzy decided to ask rather than answer Tai's question.

"Just my monocular," Tai said, pulling it out and waving it lightly in front of him. "Looks like it's going to come in handy now."

"Yeah… That's right. We don't know what to expect here, we're gonna have to be prepared for the worst," Sora said seriously, her eyes set on her sneakers.

"Alright, well since we only have three small food sources, we're going to have to make rations so they'll last us as long as possible," Jojo spoke up, just when Gomamon started to crawl off of my lap.

"Hm?" I asked, making the aquatic Digimon grin at me.

"I'm going to swim a little, I'll be back," Gomamon said before heading past Sora and I towards the shore.

I couldn't help but pout a little now that I had nothing to hug. My lap felt oddly empty without the Digimon sitting there for a petting session.

"Marie...?" One other Digimon suddenly approached me, causing me to look up to see Piyomon shyly inching closer while Jojo did the math on rationing for everyone. "W-will you pet me too?"

I grinned and opened my arms, making the pink bird Digimon situate herself half on my lap brightly so I could begin running my fingers and hands through her soft plumage. Almost instantly, she was nuzzling my hand much like Gomamon had been doing prior, causing me to giggle lightly. These Digimon were so cute...

"Hey, Tai! That food's not for him!" Jojo suddenly scolded my crush who sat behind the rest of us, feeding a few crackers to a rather pleased Agumon.

Tai gave Jojo a look of annoyance. "What's the problem? They're with us now, don't be so greedy."

"TAICHI!" Jojo complained, making me smile a little at my cousins usual antics.

I couldn't help but look towards my pocket again. I didn't dare bring it out in front of everyone though. I didn't want the rest of them to stress over it like I currently was. I'd stress for them… Maybe I just wasn't meant to wake up with a Digimon friend.

…Unless my Digimon friend couldn't find me and is still lost in Wandering Woods, as Gabumon said it was called.

I didn't want to think about that though, just the thought sent guilt gathering in my gut.

 _I should say something… Maybe we could go look! Just to be sure, I wouldn't want anyone as small as these Digimon-guys lost in there because of me._

"Guys…" I began.

At that moment, something alarming like a violent spark in my mind had me springing up onto my feet wide eyed. Surprising enough, Piyomon had jumped onto her feet at the same time, so I didn't end up dumping her over like a jerk or anything.

"What? What is it?" Tai asked at the alarmed look on my face.

"Somethings wrong," I said Piyomon standing close to Sora and I with a sharp expression of expectancy.

"Yes, something's coming!" Piyomon commented along side me as we looked at the space to the far left of the phone booths cautiously.

"Huh? What do you two mea-" Matt began until the ground started to shake, making me back up into Matt by accident. Before I could topple over, he steadied me by my shoulders.

I tried not to appear miffed at contact with the meanie.

"Come on, let's move somewhere safe!" He yelled, grabbing TK's arm and veering him after everyone when we started running away from the area of the shaking ground. Out bags were left abandoned back in the middle of the beach, but I didn't try to rescue them, I just ran after everyone with Jojo at my side.

I almost screamed when pillars of water sent the phone booths flying one by one, up until all were in the air.

Just as fast as they were thrown into the air though, they came crashing down into pieces.

I only finally yelped when one phone booth slammed down right in front of me, obstructing the path I was originally heading in and making me jerk back to avoid being crushed by it.

"Ahh! I didn't know this was Shellmon's territory!" I heard Tentomon say, just when I felt something snap around my waist and lift me up from the ground with a grip that made me gasp for air.

Shellmon was a large pink turtle-esque or snail-like Digimon with a giant spiral gray shell that went up to a small forked tip that spun around, the shell containing the torso of the Digimon. On it's head were yellow-green tentacles that reminded me of Play-dough hair, one of the tendrils wrapped tightly around me in a vice grip.

"Marie!" I heard Gomamon shout from the water, causing this Shellmon to turn it's head and position it in Gomamon's direction. Like a hose on full blast, a giant burst of water catapulted into Jojo's Digimon partner, pushing him deeper into the water while I focused on trying to wriggle out of the grip of the Digimon.

Even the smallest wiggling had me exhausted with a simple shifting, making me slightly dizzy from the little air I was able to replenish.

I only stopped when I noticed something rather odd.

 _The Digimon are frustrated and hungry,_ I thought to myself, making a look of weak confusion cross my features. It was such a strange thought, but how could I know something like that?

"Ready, guys!" I heard Gabumon shout, making my friends Digimon partners jump into action.

"Try not to hit Marie!" Jojo shouted worriedly, just as the Digimon were ready to attack somehow. How? I wasn't sure, I'd never seen them fight or anything. Maybe they were physically strong or something?

"Baby Flame!" Agumon shouted before shooting a ball of fire into the face of Shellmon.

I wasn't bothered much by the heat that licked my face, as the attack caused Shellmon's grip on me to slip enough for me to rip my arms out from it's hold and haul myself up. Before I could pull myself entirely out of it's grip, it wrapped around my torso even harder than it had previously, causing me to croak in objection and slouch over it weakly.

"Don't worry, Marie, we'll get you out of there!" Agumon shouted up to me while Shellmon regained it's balance.

"Petite Fi…?" Gabumon said as a shoddy blue flame started from his opened mouth before going out the next second, causing the Digimon to snap his jaw shut with a look of confusion and embarrassment.

"Magical…! Um…" Piyomon also started as she flew up to try and hit Shellmon with a growing green flame that went out just as quickly as Gabumon's flames.

That's when it seemed to make sense to me, the thought that I'd had moments before they'd attacked.

The Digimon really WERE hungry. They really WERE frustrated- because they were too HUNGRY to fight.

"It's okay, Marie-han! We…" Tentomon spoke as he flew up close to where I was, making me wave my arms at him and then make a gesture towards the bags behind Shellmon with raspy breaths. "What? What is it? I don't understand…"

I tried again by making an eating motion, like I was eating a hamburger.

"…Food?" Tentomon asked, flying just a little closer while Agumon fired again at Shellmon to bring him off balance once more.

I nodded at the insect Digimon and then pointed at him several times, making the Digimon tilt it's head.

"…I food? _...OH!_ Okay!" Tentomon finally understood, flying above Shellmon right when the pink Digimon tried to grab the insect with one of his hair tendrils. Luckily enough, Tentomon dodged and I turned my head to watch him fly over and land by our bags.

Shellmon seemed to disregard him and returned his attention to the other Digimon still facing off against him with the only energized Digimon at the moment- Agumon. The pink Digimon tilted it's head forward again and a blast of water rushed past me, hitting all the Digimon and sending them flying back.

Agumon was the only on to stand back up, causing the other kids to race to the fallen Digimon that were scattered across the sand near them.

"Yeah, go get 'em, Agumon!" I heard Tai cheering.

"Why Agumon the only one able to fight?" I heard Matt ask in bewilderment.

Still in the midst of trying to wiggle out of Shellmon's hold, I heard Izzy shout in disbelief, "Tentomon, what are you _doing?!"_

When I looked back, Tentomon was still shoving food into his face, only pausing to turn his head towards his partner.

"Marie-han told me to! It's okay, Koushiro-han!" Tentomon replied, jumping back into the air towards me. "Alright, Marie-han, don't move! _Petite Thunder!"_

I was thoroughly pleased when the jolt of lightning made contact with the tentacle around me, releasing it's hold entirely so that I started falling down.

"You did it!" I exclaimed in excitement, Tentomon grabbing one of my wrists to slow down my fall (it seemed like he couldn't fully support my weight enough to fly me towards the other kids).

"It was nothing, hehe," Tentomon said sheepishly.

Seemed like we had celebrated too soon, as a blast of water hit the both of us from behind before we had reached the ground. It was nothing too rough, but it made us tumble onto the sand soaking wet with shouts of surprise.

To say I was annoyed when the sand stuck to every part of my body was an understatement.

"That could have gone better," Tentomon said, shaking sand off and making me cover my eyes so the flying bits didn't land in them.

Tentomon suddenly jumped upon looking ahead, making me follow his gaze to see Shellmon staring directly at us.

The large Digimon wasn't moving though, just staring. Agumon, who was guarding the rest of the weak Digimon and my campmates, didn't attack either. He was wearing an expression of confusion at Shellmon's actions as well- or lack thereof.

"Why's Shellmon just staring at them? Did Tentomon scare it?" I heard Tai ask Matt while Shellmon gazed at Tentomon and I.

"How odd," Tentomon replied before moving to place himself between Shellmon and I. "Are you alright, Marie-han?"

"I'm okay," I said, standing and looking over at my friends to see Jojo sighing in relief.

"I'll lead you back to them, okay? Just stay close," Tentomon said, both of us moving carefully and watching Shellmon follow our movements with interest.

Before we could even get three steps in, Shellmon stomped a foot in our way, causing Tentomon and I to jump and step back.

I was surprised when a tendril wrapped around me again, lifting me up- this time with a gentle and breathable grip.

I felt something again, just as strange as the thought I'd previously had about our hungry and frustrated Digimon companions.

This Digimon didn't want to hurt me.

" _Marie!"_ I heard Tentomon and Agumon shout in unison, making me hold up a hand to the companions.

"Wait!" I said, stopping the Digimon in their tracks. They listened, but looked ready to attack if anything happened.

Shellmon silently lifted me in front of it's line of sight, giving me a light sniff before lowering it's head and then spraying me with a gently shower of water until all the sand had washed off of me.

Even more surprising, it set me back down beside Tentomon once it was done cleaning me, leaving me to shiver and then sneeze girlishly.

Everyone looked quite flabbergasted, even Tentomon, who didn't seem to have any facial muscles for expressions.

"Marie-han…?" Tentomon asked while I reached behind my head to wring out my sopping wet blonde hair.

"I'm good," I grumbled, leering at the pink Digimon's feet.

A wave of noticeable anger hit me, causing me to snap my head towards Agumon.

"Watch out!" I shouted, just as Shellmon tried to blast water at the small orange dinosaur.

With my notification, Agumon was able to jump out of the way, the distraction allowing Tentomon to fly up and offer an attack of his own.

"Petite Thunder!" Tentomon sent a shock of electricity at Shellmon, only for a tentacle to slap the bug Digimon away before the attack could hit him. _"Ah!"_

"Uh-Oh," I murmured, watching as Tentomon was hurled away with a loud _splash_ at the end of his flying arc.

"Looks like it's just you and me, Agumon!" I heard Tai yell, running towards a different direction as a distraction. "Hey, ugly! Over here!"

"Taichi, wait!" I heard Sora shout, beside Piyomon.

Successful at grabbing Shellmon's attention, Agumon ran towards Shellmon's other side and opened his jaw. "Baby Flame!"

When the ball of fire made contact with Shellmon's cheek, the Digimon flinched, but seemed to be busy dealing with whatever Tai was doing on the other side. Whatever it was, it looked to be bothering Shellmon a lot.

Before we all knew it, Shellmon had Tai snatched up just like I'd been moments before.

"No, now he's got Tai!" I heard Sora exclaim in frustration before looking at me and gesturing me to make a run for it while Shellmon busied himself with Agumon, pinning the dinosaur Digimon down under his foot before he could avoid it.

I had only taken a step closer when Shellmon suddenly hit Sora and the other kids and Digimon with water, pushing them back on the shore much more roughly than expected.

"Agumon…!" I heard Tai call out weakly.

"Taichi!" Agumon shouted back, struggling frantically against the weight of Shellmon's foot.

All at once, I could feel Agumon's overwhelming need and desperation to protect Tai, making me heart race with adrenaline. These emotions weren't mine, how could I feel them?

 _He's very worried for Tai…! I need to do something! Maybe I can try to release Tai myself!_

I ran forward and jumped on the arm of Shellmon that had Agumon pinned down, easily climbing the angled arm until I was at Shellmon's shoulder. I grabbed a free tendril, too busy with my objective to wonder why the Digimon didn't try to grab me again like it had before.

Once beside Tai, I grabbed the tendril that was wrapped around him, pulling with all my weight to try and make Shellmon go.

"Marie, what are you…?" Tai asked, but I continued to pull at the tendril.

"Agumon… He's really worried… I don't like it…!" I explained, voice thick with effort as I pulled at the tentacle.

" _Taichi!"_ I heard Agumon cry again. Following was a startling glow and light that made me pause to look back, only to lose my grip on tendril for a moment when Shellmon was thrown back a few steps.

"Agumon evolve to… _Greymon!"_

I managed to steady myself against Tai, but was confused at the movement of Shellmon. Did _Agumon_ throw this big lug of a Digimon?

I looked back, gasping when I saw something that was NOT Agumon.

 _Another dinosaur Digimon?! Where'd Agumon go?!_ I thought worriedly, putting in twice the effort to free Tai until another hit finally sent Tai nearly flying out of Shellmon's hold. "GAH!" Tai sputtered.

"Tai!" I yelled, catching his wrist before he could fly too far. I winced at the feeling of my arms taking the momentum of his weight, my other hand gripping one of Shellmon's tendrils tightly.

"You're crazy…!" Tai managed after a second of catching his breath, but I decided not to linger over the hurt and embarrassment that hit me from his words.

"Uh…" I replied unsure, releasing Shellmon once his movements came to a stop. "Never mind that, just jump!"

I pulled Tai along down Shellmon's arm, jumping off of his foot with Tai and releasing the hand of my crush so we could continue to run towards our friends without looking too "friendly", as Jojo would call things like that.

"I can't believe it, Agumon evolved again!" I heard Tai say over the fight going on between the two large Digimon.

 _Wait, that's right… I heard Agumon say he was Greymon now!_

"He got… Bigger," I said dumbly, staring at Greymon in surprise.

Greymon was an orange dinosaur with many brown stripes that went up his arms and legs, matching what looked to be a brown exoskeleton like skull with two small side horns and a third horn poking out from the very front where his snout was.

Shellmon tried to hit Greymon with a blast of water (which seemed to be his only mode of attack now since I doubt he could pick Greymon up), but Greymon merely moved his head aside like it was nothing.

Greymon's jaw opened to reveal rows of lethal sharp teeth, only to obscure them from our vision when he started blowing a constant blast of flames into Shellmon's water blast.

The mix of fire and water made steam rise from between them, but Shellmon backed away first, looking ready to give up.

With still some fight left in him, Greymon used his head to lift Shellmon up and send him flying up into the air like a bad habit, opening his jaw once more for a final attack to settle everything.

"Mega Flame!" Greymon roared, sending a large ball of fire straight into Shellmon so that he flew even further than expected, over the water of the ocean until he crashed into the water and disappeared into the sea.

 _Whoa… Greymon is really strong…!_

All of us watched when Greymon suddenly began to glow softly, his form suddenly returning back to the Digimon I was more familiar with: Agumon.

He collapsed into the sand weakly, but something inside me told me he was okay. Regardless, Tai ran off to check on him.

This left me to deal with Jojo, who grabbed my shoulder and spun me around wearing a look of worry.

"Thank goodness you're okay…" He sighed before then giving me a glare. "But what were you _thinking_ climbing it when Tai got caught?! It could have hurt you, you shouldn't have done that!"

"I had to," I blurted out, causing everyone to share looks of confusion. "Agumon-"

"Marie, please don't ever do that again," Matt cut me off, much more calmly than Jojo had.

"Marie… How did you figure out that Tentomon needed to eat something to fight?" Izzy grabbed my attention.

"That reminds me, how did you know Shellmon was going to attack Agumon before he did anything?" Mimi also spoke up, leaning in from my other side.

"How did you know a Digimon was going to attack to begin with? I understand Piyomon noticing, but…" Sora said, popping her head over Joe's shoulder until I jerked back from everyone nervously, eyes flicking at each of them before falling down to my feet anxiously.

"You're making her nervous," TK stepped in all of a sudden, moving so that he stood next to me with Patamon in his arms.

"Ah, sorry…" Izzy apologized quickly, backing up a moment until the sound of movement made us all turn to see two forgotten Digimon walking up to us half covered in water and sand.

"Koushiro-han! It was incredible! Marie-han is very good at charades!" Tentomon exclaimed beside Gomamon, making Izzy and the other kids and Digimon double over besides TK and I.

"Charades?" TK asked, looking at me.

"It's a game where you use movements to get the other people to guess what you're trying to say," Sora said with small laugh.

"Marie!"

"Hm?" I asked, turning in time for Agumon to grab my hands in his clawed ones. He looked like he absolutely adored me, wearing a big grin and glowing eyes of glee.

"Thank you for helping Taichi for me!" Agumon said, moving to spin me around him cheerfully.

"Oh, uh… I don't think I did any good. Everyone's mad at me for doing it," I said once Agumon stopped spinning me around. Surprisingly, I wasn't dizzy.

"Why do you think? You could have really gotten hurt!" Matt scolded behind me harshly, making me flinch.

"Well, I think you were brave! Forget what they think!" Agumon said, Tai (surprisingly) looking like he didn't like what I did either.

"Agumon, don't encourage her!" Matt scolded the orange Digimon as well.

"Matt!" TK huffed in my defense, linking his arm with my free arm only to freeze and then look at our arms. When he removed his, it was dampened from my soaked clothing. "Oh, whoops…"

"Oh no, she can't stay in those clothes… She might catch a cold!" Mimi said worriedly, watching me shiver when a breeze hit me.

"I don't think we have any spare clothes for her," Sora said, biting her lip as she tried to come up with something.

"I have extra," I assured them, wringing out more water from my ponytail.

"…I don't understand why Shellmon acted the way he did when he saw Marie though," Tai stated to Agumon, touching his chin in thought with a white glove.

"Maybe he thought she was cute like Mimi does?" Agumon suggested, causing Mimi to giggle.

"I agree with Agumon! Shellmon must have fallen head over heels for her big blue eyes, don't you think, Joe?" Mimi said, nudging my cousin and eliciting a little laugh from him.

"You'd actually be surprised with how many people she has wrapped around her little finger. I'm pretty sure she wasn't even aware of how cute she was until you blurted it out in camp," Jojo explained to the pink clad cowgirl.

Mimi simply giggled and grabbed my hand, careful not to get too close and get water on herself like TK had. "Come on, help sweet Mimi and Palmon get our things," Mimi said, pulling me away with Palmon at our side.

"Mimi is right though, Marie, you are cute," Palmon agreed, taking my other hand so I was left walking after them with a glowing red face.

"Thank you…" I said in slight embarrassment.

I could only handle so much embarrassment, after being scolded by Jojo in front of everyone, scolded by _Matt_ , being called crazy by Tai (who practically did the same thing as me!), and then not even getting a thank you from Tai himself after doing said crazy thing.

Well, at least Mimi's announced infatuation for me was the better of the embarrassments. I expected her to squeal about me like that after Agumon brought it up. I think the only good things that came out of the past ten or fifteen minutes was Tentomon applauding me for my skills in charades and Agumon thanking me in place of Tai.

… _I'm not crazy… I renounce my feelings for Taichi, he's just as big a meanie as Yamato. In fact, I'm going to call them by their full names now to show that I don't want to be affiliated with either of them!_

I picked up my backpack, and TKs, Palmon carefully handling Izzy's computer and Jojo's first aid bag (which Mimi was supposed to carry, but I was sure Jojo would be kind enough to carry it for her).

Mimi herself just carried her own things as we returned to everyone.

"Here's your backpack, TK," I said with a smile at my friend.

"Thanks!" TK said, swinging it on after putting Patamon down.

"Well based on what Marie figured out, we should probably give our rations to the Digimon. We can find more food for ourselves elsewhere," Izzy said to Jojo who nodded in agreement and pulled out a blanket to dump all the food on.

Following their actions, I dumped out whatever food I had, leaving my other things (plus one emergency potato chip bag) in my backpack for any bad situation in the future that would require one Digimon to get some energy.

"Well, doesn't look like we have any reason to stay here anymore. The phone booths are busted and that Shellmon might return to retaliate. We should get moving as soon as the Digimon finish eating," Matt said while I opened all the goods for the Digimon with Sora.

"…Marie, I hope you don't feel bad or anything after the boys scolded you," Sora said while dumping the first of the food out for the Digimon, who immediately started their snack-a-thon mission once they saw the food.

Of course I feel awful, I thought to myself crudely. Rather than tell Sora that though, I gave her a happy reassuring smile and said, "I'm okay."

Sora didn't look convinced.

"Why did you do it?" She asked, taking a seat with me after we finished dumping the food out.

"Agumon was really worried; I didn't like how he was feeling. I thought I could try and help so he wouldn't stress out so much…" I explained as best I could.

"I'm sure he was worried- we _all_ were worried. You putting yourself at risk as well made us worry more though… Do you understand?" Sora asked gently, reaching over to rub the back of my head where my damp ponytail hung against my backside.

"Yeah," I said softly, releasing a small sigh. She didn't understand. It wasn't that I assumed Agumon was worried or that he _looked_ worried… I felt his emotions as if they were _mine_. I was worried, yes, but the worry I felt coming from Agumon… It was intense.

Sora did make a good point about me making everyone else worry even more than they did when only Tai was caught at the time.

I looked at her apologetically. "I'm sorry," I said, making Sora wrap an arm around me in a hug.

"You don't have to be sorry, it's okay as long as you understand. You're a smart girl," Sora expressed before standing back up to walk over to Yamato and Taichi.

"You're too sweet, Marie," Agumon said as he walked over to the place Sora was previously in. I blinked at the Digimon curiously.

"How so?" I asked.

"You know," Agumon started before leaning in and lowering his voice. "Lying to Sora about your feelings not being hurt so she wouldn't worry…"

The surprise on my face must have been apparent, because Agumon and a few of the other Digimon snickered before giving me grins.

 _Wait… How do they know I was lying? Was it that obvious?_

I couldn't help but giggle a little myself at the fact that they'd noticed, watching as Agumon scarfed up a bit of food. He was nice enough to hold himself back until the other Digimon had their proper rations before eating a more himself.

"Alright, guys!" Taichi said once Jojo and I had repacked the blanket and dusted the food crumbs from it. "Let's get moving!"

"Where are we going?" I asked Jojo as we took up the tail of the group with Gomamon.

"Well, Izzy hypothesized that the phone booths here couldn't have come out of nowhere. So we're off to find the person that placed them there," Jojo explained to me.

"I see…" I said, feeling the weight of the gold device in my pocket hit my thigh.

Curiously, I glanced back at Wandering Woods.

Now I was sure I didn't have a small Digimon friend like the rest of the group. If I did… I would have sensed it's emotions like I'd been sensing the emotions of the other Digimon. I even sensed Falcomon's annoyance to my calling him an alien…

No. For some reason, I seemed to be the odd one out of the group.

I couldn't tell them though…

They wouldn't understand.

* * *

 **End of Chapter 3**

 **A/N: I'm not a beggar or anything, but reviews and criticisms are nice (unless they're hateful! Then nooooo!). Sooo, if any of you can leave one, that would be really awesome! If you don't want to though, that's okay- I'm already happy with the follows, faves, and those that simply stick around to read it.**

 **Hugs! Hugs for everyone!**


	4. Ch 4: Rest Stop

**Chapter 4**

* * *

 ***Marie's P.O.V.***

We were walking higher over a bluff that was leading us away from the beach, leading us up on it's narrow path so that it was impossible to avoid look over the edge at the ocean waves as they broke against the jagged rocks below. I've never been very comfortable with heights, so I was closest to the wall of the cliffs. Despite that, I could still see the deadly drop from where I walked.

I was thirsty, but I didn't say anything. I didn't want to bug the other kids with any complaints about something they couldn't actually help me with- none of us had any water on us, just food- and even _that_ was already gone.

Also the girls had already taken me to a secluded area to change into my extra clothes, which included a loose red tank top tunic with yellow hemming at the edges and black leggings that no longer had pockets to allow me to hide my gold device. I ended up shoving it at the very bottom of my backpack.

 _I still don't understand why we have those things..._ I thought to myself as a distraction from the heights.

"How are you feeling?" Sora asked once we all stopped to take a break from all our walking, no longer confined to the narrow path now that we had reached the top of the cliffs that led off to another forest.

When I first met Sora, I thought we wouldn't get much communication between each other. I don't know why, she seemed rather distant at first glance.

Now that we had more time with each other, I came to realize how caring she actually was- and very gentle when speaking to me. I liked it.

"I'm alright," I said, keeping my thirst for water a secret. I was sure we'd eventually pass fresh water to drink… I mean, how else were everyone's Digimon friends surviving before?

"Agumon," I heard Taichi call out his companion from in front of Sora, Piyomon, and I.

"What is it, Taichi?" Agumon asked, stepping up beside his beloved partner with a pep in his step.

"You evolved into Greymon. Why is it that you became Agumon again?" Taichi asked, crossing his arms and looking ahead.

"Well…" Agumon trailed off.

"Well?"

"I don't know," Agumon finally answered, causing Taichi to nearly double take straight off of the cliff before Agumon casually grabbed the back of his shirt to support him.

The other kids and Digimon giggled at his reaction, leaving me to struggle to keep a straight face since I was still agitated after the beach incident.

 _No! I'm mad at him! I refuse to laugh!_ I thought to myself, puffing my cheeks and turning to look at something else.

I jumped and turned my attention towards rocky wall when a spark of agitation rushed to my head. Moments after I looked in the direction where I sensed agitation from, a large gray and white Digimon resembling a triceratops suddenly came crashing through the wall, sending rocks crumbling aside as it situated itself to one side of our group with a loud growl.

"What's that?!" Izzy asked out loud as some of us backed an inch away from it in case it tried something.

"Oh, don't worry about him! That's Monochromon, he's a gentle Digimon," Tentomon assured his partner. Another spark of discontent made me turn yet again to see another Monochromon walking from the other side of where we all stood.

"Um, this doesn't look good," I said, causing the other's to direct their attention towards the second Digimon approaching.

"They're on both sides, we should scram!" Matt said, voice rising when the Monochromon suddenly started to charge towards us from both sides.

I felt Jojo grab my wrist and tug me along after the other kids, Gomamon, TK, Patamon, Gabumon, and Matt taking up the tail of the group.

"Ow!" I heard TK suddenly yelp behind me, causing my head to whip around and my feet to try and dig into the ground. Jojo didn't even slow down though, so I was forced to scramble after him and look back with no success at getting my cousin to stop moving. I really only resisted for maybe a second, before giving up and following.

"Takeru, are you okay?" I heard Matt ask before I found, Jojo, Gomamon and I passing Taichi and Agumon.

"Can you manage, TK?" I heard Taichi call out, causing TK to scramble back up to my relief and run after us.

"Yeah!" TK called back, allowing my attention to return to what was ahead of me.

Moments after we were all running again together, I felt it. An uncomfortable sensation of my stomach dropping, as if I were on a rollercoaster going straight down. I didn't like it but declined the idea on telling the others how I was feeling. Thankfully, it didn't seem to last long- and the agitated emotions of the two Monochromon from before had faded away. I assumed it was because of the distance.

 _Regarding my sensing of emotions though... When TK fell, I didn't feel any worry from Matt or discomfort from TK. So is it only the emotions of Digimon that I feel?_ I thought curiously.

* * *

"Ahh, I can't walk anymore…" Mimi commented, resting against a tree to catch her breath.

My stomach was hurting. I should have grabbed at least one snack to eat like the other kids did before we gave the Digimon all the food, but I didn't feel hungry before. Now I _definitely_ didn't want to eat anything... Water certainly would have been nice though.

"Me neither..." I agreed, taking a seat by the tree Mimi was resting against to catch my breath and massage my lower calves

"Sure you two can. Just a little further," Tai casually commented as he passed us. I couldn't resist shooting his back a dirty look, but I made sure no one else saw me do it. Like _he'd_ know!

"But my legs will get fat..." Mimi said with a pout, taking a moment to look at me so that I quickly hid my scowl. "Right, Marie? You don't want fat legs either, do you?"

"The fatter, the stronger, Mimi! They'll help support you and let you run faster!" Agumon claimed, stopping beside us to meet Mimi's gaze. Mimi just gave Agumon a look of skepticism and replied, "You and I aren't the same. I don't think that's how it works."

"But Mimi, Agumon is right!" Palmon jogged up to us, looking at her partner cheerfully. "Fat legs are as good as fat roots!"

"I don't like those either!" Mimi disagreed adamantly, taking a seat down beside me and offering me a smile. "Marie probably doesn't like those either."

I returned the smile, deciding to agree with her since I didn't know what to think about the conversation. Besides, Mimi was nice, right? Also, she's older and it seemed logical that she'd know more than me, I guess.

"That's a strange colored sunset..." Sora commented, stopping as well to look up at the sky next to Izzy, Piyomon, and Tentomon.

"Looks like it's about to get dark. What are your thoughts? Do you think it would be safe to walk in the dark? Or-" Izzy cut himself off when Tentomon suddenly sprang up and took flight.

"I smell it! Fresh water!" Tentomon suddenly blurted out, his excitement making my head snap up in interest moments before he even jumped up.

 _Water! Water, water, water!_ My thoughts mirrored the Digimon.

"Where?" I asked, getting on my feet and racing to the tree Tentomon had flown up to.

As if reading my mind, Jojo suddenly caught the back of my top and I came to an abrupt halt with a small squeak of discomfort.

"No tree climbing, Marie!" Jojo scolded me, pulling me next to him as if my shirt were a leash to keep me in a limited radius.

I looked up the tree longingly, watching Tentomon hop around on a thick tree branch that was calling out my name.

 _I wish I was a boy so I could escape and run up the tree without worrying..._ I thought in annoyance, puffing up my cheeks.

"Marie, why do you keep making that expression?" Gomamon asked from beside Joe and I.

"No reason," I quickly answered, wiping the look off of my face before anyone could look at me. Upon meeting Gomamon's eyes, I offered the Digimon a smile in hopes to get him to forget about it.

Gomamon looked like he wanted to ask, and I could feel his curiosity too, but in the end he just smiled back at me.

"We have as much fresh water as we want!" Tentomon called back down. "There's a lake ahead, shall we stop there for the night?"

"YES! I don't want to walk anymore!" Mimi complained from where she sat with Palmon.

"I'm gonna go for a swim-!" Gomamon started with a grin, just about to run before Jojo reached out again to grab his tail with his free hand. Now both Gomamon and I were prisoners to my cousin. "Hold on one second!" Jojo scolded him as well.

"I think we should stop here today as well," Matt said after looking at TK catch his breath. Clearly he was worried over the well being of his brother.

"Yeah, we're all tired and hungry anyways," Tai agreed, fixing his gloves and then letting his eyes flick over to me when I stared a little too long. I tore my gaze away after a second to look down at Gomamon, making sure not to let my expression show what I was really feeling.

 _...I guess he's still cute..._ I thought rather reluctantly in the midst of my agitation.

"Alright then, we'll set up our camp over there," Jojo decidedly agreed before turning to Mimi dryly. "You can manage for a few more steps, right?"

"Hmm... Only if Marie walks with me!" Mimi said brightly all of a sudden, making Jojo look back down at me and gently push me in her direction. Mimi held out a hand for me to grab once I was walking on my own, which I took despite my embarrassment over her fawning. "Okay, now I can walk."

 _Still, at least she's enthusiastic to be around you. That's gotta count for something, considering Matt- I mean, considering Yamato and Taichi don't really like you,_ I thought to myself, causing my grip on her hand to become more firm at my mental processing.

We got moving towards the direction of the lake with Tentomon and Izzy leading the way, the rest of us following with Mimi, Palmon, and I taking the spot just behind Izzy.

It wasn't too long of a walk, and the thought of water was enough motivation for me to keep up with the others despite the sudden drop of stamina after a couple of steps. I wasn't tired after this many steps going up the steep bluffs by the beach, so why was a few steps on leveled ground making me tired?

 _It's probably because you haven't eaten since yesterday morning,_ a thought popped up in my head, but I chose to push it aside and ignore it for the remainder of the walk.

By the time we reached the lake, the light was growing distant, hidden behind the mountains past the water's surface where it could no longer shine in our eyes.

"Whoa, that's a pretty big lake..." TK said, moving to stand on my other side.

"Hey, Tai? Does camping mean that we sleep outside...?" Mimi suddenly asked, turning to look at my ex-crush while TK and I walked closer to the water's edge. By then, Mimi was so distracted by the idea of her sleeping quarters that I was able to slip my hand out of hers.

I knelt by the water with TK curiously, reaching in to cup my hands and stare at the crystal clear liquid in my hands. Honestly, I wanted nothing more than to stick my head in the lake and attempt to suck up the entire body of water.

"Do we just drink it...? Or are we supposed to do something with it in case it has bacteria?" I asked TK curiously, only to let the water slip out my hands in surprise when I saw him eagerly drinking without a care in the world.

"Bacteria...? I say just drink it!" TK answered with a grin, wiping his mouth with an arm after he had his fill.

I looked back at the water and cupped my hands in the lake again, bringing the water straight up to my face and drinking the succulent liquid contently.

 _I never thought water could taste so good! TK's probably right, I'm over thinking things._

"Is that a _streetcar?"_ I heard Tai suddenly ask in disbelief, making me choke on my water at the outright randomness of his comment. A streetcar? _Here?_

TK slapped my back a couple of times until I caught my breath, offering him a smile despite feeling like he did more damage than help with his forceful smacks. Well, it's the thought that counts, right?

"Well, maybe someone is in there! Let's go check it out!" Sora was the first to say, running ahead with Piyomon so that the rest of us got up to follow. I lagged behind a bit, so I ended up stopping to take a breather and decided to walk the rest of the way after them when I could, despite the large space between us that grew and grew as I knelt in my grounded spot.

Once I could breathe again, I stood back up and started walking.

 _Perfect... I'm all by myself,_ I thought sourly as I continued to walk around the lake at a comfortable pace. _Why should I care though. They're better acquainted with Jojo anyways, not loner Marie..._

I stopped heading towards the streetcar and ended up stepping towards the lake for another drink, kneeling and getting as much as I could handle since I wasn't very hungry.

After a couple of handfuls of water, I stopped and sat back, letting my backpack slide from my shoulders lazily. After a few moments, my stomach stopped giving me sharp pain. From where I sat, I could see the other kids walking around the streetcar and examining it with clear interest. They were far away from me now, but if they looked up, I knew they'd be able to see me.

 _What is this place? The air vents in the forest, the phones on the beach, and now a streetcar in the middle of an island on a lake? Are we still in Japan?_

Surprisingly enough, I blinked when I found myself staring at my gold device once again. Somehow, I had managed to dig it out of my backpack without even noticing my actions.

Despite its mystery, the device was still really pretty. It glimmered in the light, even with the sun already hiding behind the mountains. With the water of the lake behind it, it made it twice as attractive.

 _I'm tired..._ I thought to myself, biting my lip and quickly shoving it back into my backpack in case anyone were to be making their way towards my spot.

Lucky I did it too, because when I looked up, Taichi was walking the last few meters towards me. He gave me a small smile and then took a seat next to me by the water, causing my heart to skip a beat.

 _What is he doing?_ I asked myself, feeling my body instantly react to his presence. I could be mad at him for as long as I wanted, but that didn't change the fact that I _really_ liked him.

My body tensed up when I felt his emitted body heat. I was looking at everything _except_ him. I could barely keep my hands from fidgeting with each other.

He didn't say anything, choosing to simply stare ahead at the water of the lake ahead like I had decided on doing.

"...You didn't have to help me back there, Marie. I'm glad you did though," Tai suddenly spoke after an extended amount of silence.

I looked at him in surprise at his confession. "What do you mean?" I asked, skipping any thoughts and jumping to ask him about it.

He fell silent again and then knelt forward, taking his gloves off and cupping his hands in the lake for a drink. Normally, I was a very patient person, but for some reason, his words ate away at that patience and I became antsy quickly.

 _What does he mean? So he's not mad that I tried to help? Why didn't he say thank you? Why didn't he say anything_ at all?

After drinking a little bit of water, he sat back beside me and glanced over at my curious expression. "I honestly thought I was going to break my head or something when Shellmon let go of me... I'm glad you caught me before I could fall though. I agree with Agumon- it was very courageous of you to hop on Shellmon to help me when I was in trouble... But Matt and Joe aren't wrong either. It was also very dangerous to do it," Tai explained, putting his hands down to support his torso when he leaned back a bit.

My left hand happened to be within his range, and I felt sparks of delight when his fingertips brushed mine. But still... he was still missing something vital to me.

"I understand," I said, somewhat disappointed about the lack of gratitude in the form of a simple-

"I guess what I'm trying to say is... Thank you for helping me anyways," Tai finally said, causing me to bite down on my lip to resist the big smile threatening to spill across my face. I didn't want to seem overly enthusiastic about it, so I looked down and hid my face a little, only allowing my smile to reach a specific and reasonable point of width. "You don't have to hide your face, I see that smile!"

I started laughing my socks off when he reached over and began tickling my sides playfully, causing me to roll around to try and resist his attack on me. My big grin broke through the thick walls of my reserved nature, making Tai chuckle once he stopped and got back on his feet, pulling his gloves on and reaching down to help me up once I had sat up properly again.

With a blossoming sensation of absolute joy that caused my heart to swell, I took Tai's hand and stood up next to him with his help.

"You're welcome," I finally said after I pulled my hand out of his and placed my arms behind my back.

"Come on, let's go help the others set up camp," Tai said, gesturing me to follow along.

I didn't hesitate to fall into step with him.

* * *

"I got lucky with fishing," I heard Izzy say as he and TK walked over to the pit I was dumping a little more firewood into, watching the flames rise as if delighted by the fuel.

"Ah! Good job, Izzy!" I heard Tai say, making me turn to look over at Izzy once TK had joined me by my spot next to the fire.

"Why does everyone call you Izzy? I thought your name was Koushiro," I said, turning my back to the flames when Tai had started to wave a fish over the fire.

Izzy took a seat next to TK and I with a grin. "Oh, my last name is Izumi. People find it easier to just call me Izzy rather than Koushiro, since my first name is kind of a mouthful," Izzy explained, placing his makeshift fishing rod down behind him.

After a moment, I nodded in understanding and turned to look back at the fire pit before us. Yamato was placing fish on sticks and sticking them in the ground at an angle where the flames could lick their scales. My stomach audibly growled at the sight of the fish, but I didn't do anything except rub my stomach into tranquility. I didn't want to get worms by eating them early...

"Um... By the way..." Izzy started with a nervous edge to his tone.

I faced him again, noticing how he looked down at his hands in his laps and fidgeted around with his gloves with a look of unease. His eyes flicked towards several insignificant locations around his legs before I guess he finally got the nerve to continue.

"About those questions we asked before... Er, I really don't mean to be pushy or anything. I'm sorry if I'm bugging you- manners have never really been my strong point," he continued before looking up at me almost as shy as I would usually look at people. "Will you... Could you tell me about what happened back on the beach?"

I blinked at him and turned to look at our items near where we sat- namely my own where my gold device was.

"You don't have to answer," TK reminded me with a smile, making me smile back and face Izzy again.

"It's okay, I don't mind. At least I'm not getting pelted with questions from every direction like before..." I said to them, hugging my knees against my chest to reinforce a sense of security within me for social interactions. "What would you like to know first?"

For a moment, I saw a flash of enthusiasm in his eyes, but then he seemed to tone it down probably because of my timid nature.

"How did you figure out that the Digimon needed to eat to fight back?" He asked seriously, leaning in just a little with TK doing the same on my other side. Matt- I mean, Yamato and Tai were still cooking the fish, some of the others gathering fruit with the Digimon over in the forest.

"I felt that the Digimon were hungry and frustrated," I said simply, resting my chin on my knees.

"Um... Okay. How did you know Shellmon was going to appear and attack us? Before he showed himself to us," Izzy asked next, as if disappointed by my last answer.

"I felt his anger. It was scary," I answered, causing Izzy's brow to furrow in confusion.

"What do you mean by 'felt'?" TK inquired next, as if just as curious as Izzy. It was so sweet of TK to hold back his questions back at the beach and only ask once I'd given them permission to.

"Well, it was like I was hit with emotions- and they... They weren't _my_ emotions. I could also feel where they were coming from. That's how I knew that our Digimon were hungry and that Shellmon and the two Monochromon were approaching us. I think there's a limit to how far I can feel them though. I couldn't feel the Monochromon after a certain distance, so-" I explained until Izzy interrupted me by putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Marie. You explanation gives me the thought that you're maybe an _empath,"_ Izzy said, eyes flashing with even more excitement from before.

"Empath... I don't think so. I'm not special. Besides, I only feel the emotions from the Digimon," I said, looking back over at the fire.

"Did you have a one of these when you woke up here?" Izzy caught my attention again, pulling his gray device from his things and presenting it to me.

"She said she didn't back when we were on the beach," TK filled in for me until I bit my lip and looked away ashamed.

"...I lied," I admitted, trying to keep my nerves calmed as I was saying the words out loud.

"Are you okay, Marie-han?" A voice suddenly came from behind us, causing TK, Izzy, and I to turn and see Patamon and Tentomon standing behind us curiously.

"Huh? Why do you ask?" TK asked, his cute Digimon, opening his arms for a hug that Patamon jumped into with a big smile.

"We felt that Marie was a little bit stressed out," Patamon explained while snuggling into TK's arms.

Izzy made a noise of understanding, directing our eyes back to him. "You said you 'felt' it? Like... Like you _felt_ her emotions?" Izzy asked Tentomon, making the insect Digimon nod quickly.

"Indeed, Koushiro-han! It's strange, but I'm okay with it! Marie-han is sweet," Tentomon said, taking a seat by us.

My face must have mirrored Izzy's face of surprise, but he explained anyways. "I think your empathy skill might just be a two way street," he stated before looking down at his device as if remembering something.

I didn't even need him to ask again. I pulled my backpack closer and dug into it until I could feel the cool, metallic texture of the strange device that fell from the sky, fishing it out from under my belongings and then holding it out to hand it to Izzy.

"Mine's different though," I said, despite it being clearly obvious.

"Gold!" TK said in surprise, leaning over to look at it in Izzy's gloved hands as he compared it with his.

"Strange... The one you have seems to have a fourth button. There's also a strange red glass at the top, maybe like some kind of infrared scanner? Hm..." Izzy mumbled to himself, despite the rest of us being able to hear him. When he looked back at me, he gave me a sheepish grin and then raised my gold device. "Uh, would you mind if I kept it for a little while to take a closer look at it? I won't break it or anything, I promise."

"You can have it. I don't need it," I decidedly stated until TK grabbed my hand and leaned in so close that our noses touched. To say I was bewildered at his actions was an understatement, making me blink at him as he glared at me with a determined expression.

"Lieutenant Marie, I can't let you do that!" TK straightened up, Patamon seated next to me now that TK was on his feet and talking. My friend wagged a finger at me as if he were older, looking me dead in the eye. "I think it's something you should keep. You never know, it chose you for a reason."

"'Chose'?" I repeated, cocking my head slightly as if the word was foreign to me.

"I have to agree with TK, I'll give it back to you later. As tempting as the offer is, I'm going to have to decline," Izzy said before standing up and putting his own device in his pocket. As soon as it was out of his hand, he reached over and rubbed the back of my head. "Thanks for telling the truth, Marie."

From the way he said it, I couldn't help but give him a questioning look despite the happiness I got from his praise.

"Oh, I saw you get one back at camp. I just didn't want to say anything at the beach that would take you out of your comfort zone. I thought it'd be easier- and frankly, _nicer-_ to coax you into telling me on your own terms," Izzy explained.

My jaw dropped and I felt a scarlet hue suddenly rush across my face, causing Izzy to offer me an apologetic look. "Sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you!" He said, to which I turned away to glare pointedly at the fire with my cheeks puffed up once again.

 _He knew I wasn't telling the truth before? Why didn't he ask off the bat then? Why did he have to 'coax' me into handing it over? I'm not a dog! Boys are so mean!_

"Ah, I'd hurry looking at her device if I were you," Patamon informed the red haired meanie until I was left alone with Captain Takeru, Patamon, and Tentomon

"Please don't be too angry at Koushiro-han! I'm sure he meant well by it," I heard Tentomon say, causing my eyes to flick over to him.

"I guess," I agreed dismissively, relaxing myself for a moment and shutting my eyes once I had legs tightly pulled up to my chest again and my chin supported by my knees.

"Sleepy already?" I heard my favorite cousin's voice from our right.

I opened a single eye to see Jojo and Sora coming by with fruits and other natural treats. Jojo gave me a smile and then handed TK and I a few red apples and other unfamiliar fruits.

"Eat something before you sleep, okay?" He said to us once I'd unfurled from my position to receive his gifts and a gentle kiss to my forehead from him that I smiled at.

"Whoa, these are weird looking fruit. How are we supposed to eat them though? Is the skin on this one edible? What about seeds? Or-" TK started to ask me until he turned his head to spot me already halfway done with a pink and blue spotted plum-like fruit that I was biting into before I turned to look at TK as well with a look of mild confusion.

...

At our shared look, TK giggled. "You're right, I should just eat it," he laughed, picking up the fruit of his that was similar to mine and taking a big bite out of it. "Oo, yum!"

* * *

 **End of Chapter 4**

 **A/N: My focus is primarily on this story, so I'll try to update it as frequently as possible! Thank you, Guest, for the one review you left me!**

 **And thanks to everyone else for favorites, follows, and simply reading my story! It means a lot to me that you're all sticking around!**


	5. Ch 5: Stay in the Streetcar

**Chapter 5**

* * *

 ***Marie's P.O.V.***

… _Hm? What's that…?_ I wondered, opening my eyes to find myself curled up on the soft couch of the streetcar we'd found earlier.

I lifted my head up to spy TK fast asleep next to me with Patamon and Gabumon, but upon looking down at where my legs were resting, I found _Koushiro_ (that's right, he gets the full name treatment too) fast asleep near my legs.

I couldn't help by shoot his sleeping form a leer of annoyance. I hadn't gotten my device back yet…

When a feeling not my own shook me from my thoughts again, I got up and rubbed my eyes to make my way to the streetcar exit.

At the doorway, I looked up at the full moon above, blinking at it curiously until I started to follow where the emotion of aggravation and impatience was coming from.

 _The question was whether it was one of our Digimon friends or not._

In the middle of my thoughts, I began to hear the sound of a harmonica. Since I was talking to TK a lot, I already knew it was his brother playing it. What he was doing up when Tai had the first shift was beyond me though.

"Marie? What are you doing up?" Tai asked once I'd climbed up the hill he sat on with Agumon. I started looking around for a sign of another Digimon around when I noticed Agumon's lack of distress.

"I felt something," I said, turning to Agumon just in case. "You're not feeling aggravated, are you, Agumon?"

"No, I feel fine!" Agumon cheerfully answered, despite sounding a tad bit sleepy.

"Weird. I could have sworn I felt someone around here in a bad mood," I explained before turning to leave.

"You felt something weird around here…? From the streetcar?" Tai asked in confusion.

I paused and looked back at him to nod. "I thought I did. I guess it was just my imagination… I don't feel it anymore," I replied, turning to head back to the streetcar again.

I was approaching the doors when Gabumon suddenly hopped out, giving me a smile that I didn't hesitate to return, watching as he headed off to (I assume) hang out with Yamato.

I myself crawled back into the street car and returned to my spot between TK and Koushiro, taking the moment to reach into my backpack and grab my MP3 from a pocket compartment.

 _This should take care of any more distractions,_ I thought as I plugged the buds into my ear and laid down to the J Pop and American Pop music stored in it's small memory.

When I shut my eyes, I started to asleep for maybe only a couple of minutes until the streetcar was suddenly jerked in the motion of what felt like an earthquake, jolting me off of the seat so I landed face-first into the floor by our Digimon companions.

Over my surprise and state between sleep and awake, I felt a rush of rage from outside in the lake. This time, I was sure it wasn't my imagination.

Once the movement seemed to subside for a bit, I yanked my earplugs out and pulled myself back onto my feet.

"What was that…?!" Mimi asked nervously, everyone getting up only to be thrown askew again to another quake.

"There's something out on the lake!" Koushiro said, bolting out of the car with Tentomon racing after him.

"Let's check it out!" Sora said, chasing after Izzy with Piyomon, Palmon, Mimi, TK, and Patamon.

I was about to follow until Jojo suddenly caught my shoulders and pulled me back towards him and Gomamon, making me look at them in confusion.

"Marie, stay in here. It's too dangerous for you to be out there, okay?" He said, making me nod and watch as he and his aquatic Digimon partner raced out after everyone else.

Which left me in the streetcar all by my lonesome self.

I didn't actually want to stay in there, but I didn't want to disobey my cousin either…

I took a seat on one side of the streetcar, pulling my legs up against my chest and pushing my loose blonde hair over my right shoulder.

 _So every time we get attacked by a dangerous Digimon, I'm supposed to sit down and wait until everything is clear? That's boring… I don't want to be stuck always getting left behind,_ I thought, my face falling as I rested my chin over my knees.

How lonely…

I plugged my MP3 ear buds back in my ears and laid back down, considering there was nothing else for me to do at the moment.

 _Better to just ignore what's going on so I don't get too curious_ … I thought depressed, closing my eyes to my music once more.

Another shaking of the island made it impossible to sleep through what was going on, so I rested on my side and glared across at the leaves on the floor that made up the bed for some of the Digimon. Thankfully, I didn't have to hear anything that was going out there.

 _What was the point of us arriving here?_ I wondered, raising a hand to look at my chipped lime green nail polish, which I started to chip off more due to my absolute boredom.

Not like I could just waltz out of the streetcar though- I attempted bravery back with Shellmon, and all _that_ got me were scolds from everyone. I wasn't even the youngest one there and _TK_ was allowed outside with everyone.

 _That's not TK's fault,_ I thought to myself, yet I couldn't stop the jealousy that was seeping into my heart.

Nor could I ignore the flood of different emotions that was coming from all the Digimon outside.

 _Just relax to the music..._ I told myself, closing my eyes again and resting my head on my arms. I wasn't going to be able to fall asleep, but maybe this would make the other emotions more manageable. Feeling such intense sensations had my head hurting a little...

* * *

 ***3rd Person P.O.V.***

Matt resurfaced from the Lake after swimming a good distance away from the attacking Digimon, Seadramon, gasping for air after exerting so much energy to get back to the island in the lake that held all the other kids.

His arms ached and he was chilled from head to toe, but he was none the less alright. Especially since Gabumon had advanced to the next stage- Garurumon. Matt was confused about why his Digimon partner had evolved this time rather than Agumon or one of the other kids Digimon partners, but he was much too busy coughing up water to think too deeply on the factors.

"Matt, are you okay?!" TK asked, kneeling by his older brother to check on him with a look of worry across his younger features.

At the sound of his younger brother's tone, Matt quickly shifted up and abruptly stopped coughing despite the aching of his body. He didn't want TK to feel bad about him, so he feigned composure and looked back out into the lake.

"Don't worry about me, TK, I'm fine. Where's...?" Matt began until he noticed Seadramon emerging out of the lake once more, Garurumon following to try and swim around the serpent. When Seadramon lunged to snap his jaws around Garurumon's back, Garurumon whipped his tail at his face, causing Seadramon to jerk back and release a screech of pain.

Meanwhile Seadramon was busy trying to shake the pain from his face, Garurumon swam around to a better attacking position, dodging Seadramon's tail as it lashed out in every direction with no specific target.

Garurumon's fur is as strong as the legendary metal mythril!" Tentomon claimed back on the island near the other kids hovering around Tai, Izzy, and Agumon.

"Really? What is this legendary metal?" Izzy inquired, causing Tentomon to abruptly stop flying around.

When Tentomon turned to face his partner, one could only imagine that he was offering an apologetic expression, as his facial muscles couldn't exactly portray much considering... Well.

"Since it's legendary, I've never seen it. So I don't know," Tentomon replied, once again resuming his flying pattern around them.

"I... Can't tell whether Tentomon _really_ knows his stuff or not..." Tai commented, watching the events that were unfolding on the lake.

Seadramon was ready to fight again and directed his attention back onto the blue and white wolf Digimon that had managed to hurt him.

Garurumon patiently waited for the moment to strike, already aware of the kinds of attacks Seadramon was capable of. He had an assumption that the enraged water Digimon would try his most commonly used motive of attack, "Ice Arrow", which would be a good way of faking the opposition out if Garurumon got directly hit by it. Garurumon's fur was strong enough to shake the ice off if he got frozen- which was something Seadramon wouldn't be expecting.

As perceived, Seadramon drew his head up to begin his attack...

And then stopped suddenly.

All the Digimon and children watching were quite shocked, Garurumon himself blinking in confusion.

"Why'd he stop?" Mimi asked, brow furrowed upwards towards the center.

"Maybe he's tired?" Patamon suggested, equally as puzzled as everyone else.

When Joe noticed Seadramon shut his jaw and face the streetcar slowly, his heart skipped a beat.

"What's he interested in the streetcar for...?" Sora asked out loud while Joe took a small step towards their previous sleeping quarters, even though he knew very well he'd never make it in time if Seadramon decided to attack.

"Marie is still in there," Joe choked out, causing everyone else to freeze almost instantly.

The children watched in alarm as Seadramon drew it's head down close to the streetcar with an odd rumble in the back of its throat, audible to the rest of the children and Digimon outside, but not the specific child currently sitting up in the street car with her chin resting in her hands as if she were in the middle of thinking.

"It's just... Looking at her..." Sora murmured while watching Seadramon silently observe the young blonde girl through the streetcar window. Had Marie thought to look up and turn around, she would see Seadramon fogging up the window as it drew closer and ran its snout against the streetcar's side gently.

While Seadramon was busy, Garurumon swam just a little closer, ready to spring out of the lake and go for the serpent's neck if it moved to do anything.

The other Digimon stepped ahead of the children as well, but unlike their human partners, they didn't feel the need to be too alarmed. Why? Because Marie didn't feel alarmed. They could feel her emotions just like she felt theirs. Put simply, they assumed Marie wasn't feeling the hostility of the Digimon by her window due to the lack negative emotions rolling off her. If she was relaxed, it was because there was no threat.

Garurumon was only getting closer _just in case._

The Digimon only relaxed completely when Seadramon lifted its head back up and took a final glance over at Garurumon, the other Digimon, and the children. After staring at them for a while, it suddenly turned away and ducked back under the water of the lake, bubbles floating up to the surface after it until they too vanished completely.

The children on the island were flabbergasted, jaws dropped open as if ready to catch some flies.

"What was _that?"_ Matt broke the silence after a long moment, only to sharply breathe in when he noticed Garurumon enveloped in a gold light. Garurumon's mass shifted down into something smaller, and when the light dissipated, Gabumon was left floating in the water in Garurumon's place.

Through the entire fight, none of the Digimon nor the children had noticed the sun coming up high in the sky until Gabumon had returned to the island.

Joe himself didn't want to wait with them for Gabumon to return, although he did have gratitude for the Digimon advancing to save and attempt to protect Marie in the streetcar.

"W-wait, Joe!" Gomamon called after his partner, looking after him when Joe had suddenly turned to sprint towards the streetcar. As soon as Joe had jumped on he was completely out of breath, grabbing onto the rail that led up into the car from the front entrance. Vaguely in the back of his mind, he could feel the island beginning to gently move again, but he was much too busy with his thoughts to pay any attention to it.

Marie, eyes opened, caught Joe's movement out of the corner of her eye and looked up with her blue orbs.

"Jojo? What is it?" She asked, pulling her MP3 earplugs out from her ears to give him her full attention.

Joe didn't answer, just releasing a sigh of relief that was completely lost in his ragged breathing pace from his speedy arrival. At that moment, Gomamon finally entered the bus and crawled past Joe over to his human partner's little cousin, prompting Marie to smile and pick the Digimon up in her arms once he was within grabbing range.

"She's fine _Jojo,_ I'll bet she didn't even notice!" Gomamon said, releasing a sigh when Marie began to run her fingers through his waterproof coat.

Once Joe had caught his breath, he walked on over to the two and knelt by Marie's seat when she looked over at Joe in confusion. "Didn't even notice what? Did something happen?" She asked him.

Joe's answer was to smile and reach over to ruffle the top of her star-spun locks, which shone a brilliant yellow under the light of the sun from the window. "No, everything's fine. We handled it already... From now on though, I think I'll just keep you next to me instead though, okay?" Joe said with an embarrassed chuckle.

Joe couldn't feel the rush of glee that flooded Marie at his words, but Gomamon himself simply grinned a little more as he rested in her lap with his eyes closed. The tips of her long hair tickled his back when she nodded, but the Digimon ignored it.

"Okay," Marie replied, watching as Joe sat down next to her and pulled her next to him, the three of them getting comfortable together until sleep began to take over their senses.

* * *

 **End of Chapter 5**

 **A/N: This is a little shorter than the last four parts, but don't worry, there's more to come!**

 **Thank's for reading!**


	6. Ch 6: The Empath Revealed

**Chapter 6**

* * *

 ***Marie's P.O.V***

We were walking again. Past several familiar street signs that pointed in one too many directions for my liking. I was walking close to TK and Patamon near the back of everyone else, my hair once again pulled up in its usual high ponytail.

For some reason, none of the other older kids wanted to tell me what had happened back at the lake. After the first couple of "don't worry about it" responses, and the nervous avoidance of the topic _all together_ from Koushiro, I was left to mentally reprimand myself for listening to my music instead of watching what was going on.

Despite that though, I guess it was for the best that I missed everything. Had I been watching like I wished I had, I knew I would have sprinted out there and disobeyed Jojo. I didn't like making my cousin upset. He was important to me and I didn't want to be the cause of any negative emotions he may experience as a result of my actions.

Thankfully, Captain Takeru was the greatest friend _ever._

"Heehee, don't worry, Marie. I'll tell you all about it when we're alone, okay?" TK whispered in an exhilarated tone as we walked behind the older kids, making me grin at him as I brought a single earphone up to my ear. I offered him the second earphone, which he took and popped in his ear as we followed our older friends deeper into the forest.

"Takeru, do you like Marie a lot?" Patamon inquired after a few moments of silence, causing TK and I to look at the tan and white bat Digimon curiously.

"Huh? Sure I do. Why?" TK answered without hesitation.

My heart and brain were instantly struck with discomfort and, likewise, pleasant surprise. TK had answered so shortly, as if it were a normal thing to admit feelings such as that to another person. My expression hadn't wavered, but Patamon turned to look at me anyways, clearly having felt internal reaction.

In the back of my mind, I could hear the voice of my old therapist- nagging away as per usual even when he wasn't present.

 _Mm-hmm, and how does_ that _make you feel, Marie?_

It makes me feel like you need to shut up now...

"Are you alright?" Gomamon, a little ahead of us three, asked curiously, pausing when he sensed my inner emotions. Gradually, the other Digimon stopped to glance at me as well, causing my heart to jerk in horror within when the other kids began to follow the gazes of their Digimon friends.

Was it always going to be like this? Every time I felt even a smidge of discomfort, was I going to be hounded about my emotions? Just like after... _It_ happened?

"Marie?" Agumon spoke up when I fell silent, causing Tai to direct his attention to me as well.

My body froze for a second, terror taking over me at the sight of fourteen pairs of eyes staring back at me (including the eyes of my crush).

"D-Don't stare at me like that...!" I complained with what sounded to my ears as a weak, pathetic voice. Needless to say, my shy side caused Mimi to strike once again, making the girl release a high pitched squeal that could rival the sounds of car brakes gone too long without a change of oil.

Dad used to like cars...

Mimi jumped to my side in a snap, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and nuzzling her cheek against the top of my head. "Oh, you're just so _cute!_ Joe, can I have her, _pleeaase?!"_ Mimi begged, shooting my blue haired cousin sparkly-eyed glances. Joe's only reaction was to release an exaggerated sigh.

"Mimi, I hate to be the Debbie Downer, but if anything, you're probably making her feel worse..." I heard Yamato state, before I noticed him begin to advance us (probably to peel Mimi from me).

My stomach coiled up in a furious knot and I ripped myself away from Mimi- probably a little too quickly than necessary, as Yamato had stopped approaching and was now staring at me with an almost indiscernible look of confusion on his face.

Fortunately for me, it was my lucky hour.

Something odd was about to pass over us. I didn't know what it was, but it seemed to bear very dark emotions that made my head _physically_ begin to hurt when it got closer. I visibly winced and glanced up at the sky, in time to see something shoot past the small gap between tree branches and thick leaves.

Sora gasped a few feet away, looking up with Piyomon in alarm. Her gaze was fixated up at the sky as well, causing the spotlight to move from me to her (thank God).

"What is it, Sora?" Tai asked, causing relief to flood my senses once all eyes left me and the gear had vanished. The coil in my belly relaxed and I met TK's questioning gaze beside me with a shy smile.

 _Never mind that for now- What just shot past us? Why did it make me feel so uncomfortable?_

"Did you feel something, Marie?" Patamon asked me, as now only four pairs of eyes rested on me.

TK's, Patamon's, Gomamon's, and Yamato's.

"I think I saw... A flying saucer!" Sora exclaimed while I faced Patamon.

"Yeah... My head started to hurt," I said calmly to the bat Digimon before pointing up at where I'd seen the flying object. "I think it was that thing Sora and I saw, I felt it coming from there."

Yamato looked thoroughly confused at my words (as he hadn't been around when TK, Patamon, Izzy, Tentomon, and a few of the other Digimon heard us talking about my suggested "empath" abilities).

"Huh... We should probably be careful up ahead then," Gomamon hummed, touching a flippered claw to his chin as he regarded me. "I thought you were acting a little weird for some reason. At first, I thought you were a little embarrassed that TK had said he liked you!"

Just the reminder had me arching a brow at Gomamon, my eyes narrowing in disapproval at the topic being brought up again. It's not like I didn't like TK back (well, I didn't, at least not in a way like _that)_ , but I wasn't even sure what context he had meant it in! I'm sure I wouldn't mind either way...

...Well, why is it bugging me so much then?

...Maybe I _am_ a little embarrassed. When was the last time someone said they liked me? I can't remember any time a boy gave me a flower or candy on the playground like they did with my classmate Mika in my old elementary school. If I remember correctly, she even shared her bento lunches with one of the boys she liked back...

"Eh? Marie, did I embarrass you?! I-I'm sorry!" TK immediately apologized, causing my cheeks to dust a soft rosy red at the apologetic look on his face.

 _W-why do I feel weird all of a sudden...?_

"Ah. There it is. I knew it," Gomamon commented rather smugly behind my feet, causing me to jump and shoot him a look to 'shut up'.

"Gomamon doesn't know what he's saying. I-I'm just nervous about that thing that was in the sky..." I replied defensively before looking at TK's face. "You don't have to apologize, you didn't do anything wrong. I'm okay."

 _"I'm okay". My favorite mantra._

"Oh. Okay, that's good!" TK said cheerfully, before grinning and continuing with. "We're gonna be the bestest of friends then!"

I almost face palmed then and there at those words. Ah... So I _did_ overreact over nothing.

Gomamon was unceremoniously rolling around on the ground behind me as soon as TK had spoken again, cracking up clearly in relation to my shifting emotions and his own interpretations of them. At this point, I just pinched the bridge of my nose and muttered something foul under my breath- a word my mother used to never allow me to repeat.

I heard chuckles coming from some the other kids and Digimon, just in time to notice that the spotlight had inadvertently returned to me midst TK and I's conversation. Yamato looked to be giggling the most, his shoulders shaking and not a sound passing through the gloved hand he was using to muffle his laughter.

Well, I didn't like Yamato much, but at least he cared for his little brother a lot. That much was obvious, and it gave me warm fuzzies inside that quelled any leftover discomfort from being the center of attention (but I'm still not calling him "Matt", cause he still annoys me).

 _Speaking of discomfort..._ I thought to myself dryly, glancing down at Gomamon, whom was struggling to catch his breath from laughing so hard. _I'd get this Digimon a muzzle, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't fit his big mouth._

"We should probably get moving, standing around here isn't going to get us anywhere," Yamato spoke up after calming himself down as well.

"Yeah, that's fine and all, but... Where are we even going?" Tai spoke up after a moment, expressing a thought I was sure was on all of our minds.

Where _were_ we going? I mean, I know Joe was still set on finding another person, but... By the looks of things and how long we had been walking since I had met up with them, I was already convinced there were no humans here other than us eight. Just like Gomamon had told us before.

So if that was the case, where were we even _supposed_ to go?

"I don't mind where we go as long as I'm with Sora~!"

That statement left the beak of a eager and amorous Piyomon, who was rubbing against Sora's legs much like a cat to express her affection for the girl beside her. I could practically feel the thick admiration running off of the bird digimon, causing me to shift a little away from them due to the sheer intensity of emotion.

Sora, on the other hand, looked less than pleased with the pink digimon's announcements, and was now muttering something and scratching her head.

This exchange was barely noticed by the other kids and digimon, whom were all now walking away from us. I stood around Sora with Gomamon despite TK moving on ahead, the blonde boy still grinning widely at Gomamon's previous teasing of my emotions.

 _I should catch up with Joe..._ I thought, just as another sharp pain rippled through my head, causing me to look back at the sky where the dark object had passed previously.

"Marriiiee, they're going to leave us behind if we don't get moving," Gomamon snapped me out of my stupor, patting my foot with a flipper. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. Let's go."

I made a small noise of agreement, one that was half-hearted when I turned to follow the other kids. Sora was already a couple of feet ahead of us, so Gomamon and I took up the tail of the group with easygoing steps. Already this whole issue with emotions was making me stressed out. Good emotions were nice and all, but I didn't like the dark or angry ones I'd been encountering so far... They just made me feel uncomfortable.

Now my head was hurting because of the dark presence of that previous object... This place was worse than a visit to the dentist!

"...Marie, don't worry, everything will be fine!" Agumon said from far ahead of the group, causing a couple of the kids (not including Koushiro or TK) to glance at him and then back at me curiously.

No one questioned what Agumon meant, however, which I was somewhat thankful for. I think the spotlight had been on me long enough...

"Feeling better?" Gomamon inquired, making me smile down at him enough to hopefully satisfy the digimon.

"Yeah, a little. My head still kind of hurts though," I admitted lowly, making sure only Gomamon heard me. Had Joe heard, he'd probably start overreacting about it, and it probably wasn't even such a big deal.

"Hm... Maybe you're just thirsty or hungry... Or something," Gomamon stated before reaching up with his flippers and stopping. "Carry me?"

I didn't hesitate in moving back to pick the digimon up, wrapping my arms around him as if he were a cat. His fur was ever so soft, making an immediate wave of comfort wash away my headache. It was almost like magic!

"How'd you do that?" I asked in honest bewilderment, causing the digimon to chuckle.

"Do what? I didn't do anything other than ask for a free ride. I'm just too tired to walk," he answered, despite the underlying tone saying he knew something.

"...Thank you," I chirped after a moment, nuzzling my cheek against his and walking on after the group when I started to stray too far back for my own liking. Well, at least Gomamon was here with me- I was guaranteed safety with him around."

"Hm? Oh, Marie! I'm glad you're feeling better," Piyomon said, clinging to Sora's hand with such a thick array of happy emotions and love that I started to feel warm inside, which suddenly gave me a bright idea as I walked alongside her and Sora.

"Sorry if I made you uncomfortable or anything before," I apologized, noting the small turn of Sora's head as she listened in to our conversation. I continued with my "Can I walk near you, Piyomon? You're nice to be around right now."

"Smart girl," I heard Tentomon marveled to Koushiro a little ways ahead of Sora, Piyomon, Gomamon and I.

"Of course~! Sora won't mind, will you, Sora?" Piyomon inquired sweetly, her emotions becoming thicker and more entrancing as she looked up at Sora adorably.

"I guess it's okay..." Sora mumbled, making me thankful it was the digimon I was sensitive to and _not_ the other kids.

"Thanks," I replied shortly, causing Sora to glance at me and then cock her head slightly to the side.

"Hey, Marie..." She began, before trailing off and then shaking her head when I looked up at her in question. "No, it's okay. Never mind."

I just smiled and looked on ahead, raising a hand to start petting Gomamon's orange little fohawk.

"Oo, I'm really glad Joe brought you!" Gomamon trilled, causing Joe to look back and check up on us. He seemed satisfied when I gave him a grin, something even I knew was out of the ordinary during a time like-

...!

 _No, don't think about that. Be happy, you're with Joe's friends and they're nice, be happy,_ I told myself, quickly pushing away the dark emotions that had threatened to take over in the blink of an eye.

Luckily, it had come and gone so fast that the other digimon didn't even seem to notice, none turning to ask me what was wrong this time.

 _Dodged a bullet._

"Hey! Look, the forest ends there! We can finally get out of here!" I heard Yamato call back to the rest of us at the tail of the group, making Sora, Piyomon and I hurry on to the rest of the group. I planted myself close to Piyomon, making sure to focus on her happy emotions so my headache would stay away.

At first when Yamato had said the forest was ending, I was really excited to see what would come up next.

However, my dreams soon crashed when I saw what was ahead of us in our journey.

Miles and miles of sand. It was _literally_ a desert out there, except that the sand had this really odd coloring for some reason.

"You're kidding, right?" I was the first to speak up, followed by a small squeak from Mimi as if she were agreeing with my words.

Joe glanced over at me and put an arm around my shoulders, directing my blue eyes up to him. "It's okay, I'm sure it can't be _that_ bad!" He said optimistically.

For a second, I believed my favorite cousin.

* * *

 **(15 Minutes Later)**

I decided that for this one time, my favorite cousin was _wrong._ I was under the impression his logic (which was always on point) would apply here just like it would back at home... Until I remembered, _oh, right, this place_ has _no logic._

I was trailing behind once again, unable to keep up with Sora's and Piyomon's walking paces. I told them I'd be fine in the back, but honestly, I lied. I couldn't even hold Gomamon anymore, I was so tired. To make things worse, my headache had returned, and although the pain was a lot milder than it had been before, it was still annoying all the same.

Koushiro and Tentomon were the closest ones to me now after Gomamon had decided to switch up and hang out with Joe a little more. I told him I would be fine on my own and that they'd know if I needed any help via emotions. With that and a little pushing on my part, Gomamon went up to be with Joe.

Funny thing, Joe at first seemed to try to send Gomamon back with me (obviously he wanted someone to keep me company, and his furry aquatic friend was the perfect candidate), but after a little talking, Joe stopped trying to get Gomamon to return to me.

As for the three of us back at the tail, things were pretty silent. It wasn't awkward or anything (I was still annoyed at him though), Koushiro and I were just quiet because every breath we took and exhaled went towards propelling our bodies forward through the heat. I certainly didn't have enough air in me to start up a conversation (not that I would have, considering my shy nature).

"...This is like that program of the African Savannah I saw once on TV..." Koushiro finally spoke up, making me blink in his direction in mild surprise. I guess I was the only one out of shape then...

"Wait, are you saying there might be lions and giraffes out here?!" Tai shouted in slight panic from the front, making me smile a little to myself at the preposterous idea. Silly Tai, there's no way we could _actually_ be in the African Savannah... I mean, I've seen some documentaries on _Animal Planet_ regarding Africa, and I certainly haven't heard of reports regarding talking critters that call themselves "Digimon".

"I dunno. It'd be really nice to see familiar animals like that around here though..." Yamato stated after Tai, making me cringe at the idea. I don't want to run into a lion! Heck, I don't want to run into a giraffe either, those things can kick _really_ hard!

"We don't have any animals like that here," Gabumon replied to the musings of the two boys, followed by the other dream crusher, Tentomon, to continue with, "That is correct! We only have digimon here."

"Only digimon, eh...?" Tai panted, the heat clearly wearing him down a smidge.

"Hey, Izzy, were there telephone poles in the savannah you saw?" Yamato inquired.

I almost face palmed at the query and noticed Joe also making a weird face ahead of Koushiro, Tentomon, and I. That was just... _Nonsensical._ Telephone poles allow calls to be made- who would be making phone calls in the African Savannah? Wildebeests?

"Totally illogical to have telephone poles in the savannah..." I muttered sourly, my mood clearly much lower than it had when I first stepped by Piyomon and hugged Gomamon.

"Yeah, Marie's right, they didn't, and even if they did, it would be completely pointless. No one makes phone calls in the savannah, it's a wild playground for the animals. Adding modern technology there would disrupt the natural habitats of the animals..." Koushiro agreed out loud, even though my reply had been under my breath.

"It's okay, there _has_ to be people around here! I'm absolutely, _positive_ they're around here somewhere!" Joe insisted from ahead of us, causing me to sigh and shake my head a little.

 _This is too much for me... I don't know if I can keep going._

"Koushiro-han! Marie-han!" Tentomon started to speak to us in a low voice, causing Koushiro and I to stop and look at him when everyone else paused to stare at Joe's desperate ramblings. "I'm telling you two, there are absolutely _only digimon_ here."

Koushiro and I shared a look before Mimi skirted past us in an oddly cheerful manner, causing me to suddenly note the way the sand sunk around her shoes. Something was still off about it in my eyes, so I reached down and scooped some up in my hand curiously. Koushiro and Tentomon seemed to catch an interest in my discovery when I started to pinch what was in my hand, I leaned in and gave it a sniff, only to recoil when I caught the strong scent.

"Iron...?" I wondered out loud, allowing Koushiro to pinch some from my hand as well.

"Yeah. Powdered iron," he agreed, just as Mimi started to groan.

"Why isn't it working?! I _just_ fixed it earlier, it can't be broken _again!"_ Mimi wailed, in her hands the small compass that she had previously stated was broken. It's pins were spinning out of control now, causing Koushiro to hum in realization.

"I think your compass is fine, Mimi. It must be the powdered iron that's throwing it off," Koushiro assured her, before glancing over at me and then looking towards Tai and Joe. "This area isn't a good place to stop, it's way too hot. We need to find some water for ourselves, and fast."

"Y-yeah, Izzy's right. Come on guys, let's-" Tai started, turning away only to jump when Mimi sprang up on her feet from sulking on the ground with a startling scream.

"WHERE IN THE WORLD IS THIS PLACE?!" She shouted at the top of her lungs to the sky, making me clap my hands over my ears when her voice doubled the sharp pain in my head.

"M-Mimi, calm down please! It'll be okay," Palmon tried to comfort her partner gently, looking back at me after Mimi had finished screaming. "Marie has a headache, you're going to make her hurt more if you shout like that..."

"Eh? How do you know she has a headache? Marie hasn't said anything," Joe spoke up, looking over at me with the other unaware kids. At this point, I was so exhausted that I couldn't have cared less if I were being watched by an entire football stadium of people. I was breathing heavily, even though we had paused to regard our current situation.

"We feel her pain. She's hurting a heap ton," Tentomon said, facing me and landing by my feet with a head tilt. "Want to hug me?"

"...Okay..." I agreed, Koushiro smiling a little when I picked Tentomon up in my arms. His exoskeleton, bug-like in every manner, was actually pretty smooth, like holding one of those pretty green flying beetles that fly into things at home.

Thankfully, he was much lighter than Gomamon, and carrying him was like carrying a feather. Not to mention my headache was going away again.

"Thank you," I said, my smile returning despite the immense heat around us. _That_ I could handle.

"Not a problem, Marie-han," Tentomon replied, while the other kids stared at us in confusion.

"What do you mean you 'feel' her pain?" Sora asked in confusion, touching her chin as she stared at Tentomon, Koushiro, and I.

"Ah, I was hoping to let you guy know sometime when we were all relaxing again- so Marie wouldn't feel so nervous with everyone staring at her or anything... But I guess there's no holding it back any longer," Koushiro spoke up, causing a twinge of annoyance to tweak my brain.

 _Oh, so he wanted to go plan little schemes about me behind my back again, huh?_

"Don't be upset, Marie, he just doesn't want to make you uncomfortable...!" Tentomon chirped quietly from my arms, trying to rescue his partner from more disappointment from me.

"I don't care, tell them," I rebelliously stated after a moment, making Tentomon flinch a little from my arms.

"Ah, she's upset..." Tentomon said to himself, though he was nice enough to stay in my arms regardless. Brownie points for him, Koushiro's digimon friend is _certainly_ more considerate than _Koushiro_ was, that was for sure.

Koushiro seemed to hesitate and looked back at me with a guilty expression. After a moment though, he glanced back towards the other unaware kids and began to speak.

"Marie seems to be connected to the digimon. I don't exactly know how, but she can feel their emotions. Likewise, the digimon seem to feel her emotions in return," Koushiro explained, albeit speaking reluctantly. "Somehow... I think the first two wild digimon she encountered- Shellmon and Seadramon- noticed she was different. That may be why they were reluctant to purposefully harm her."

While Koushiro spoke, I made a weird face. Seadramon? Who the heck was that? Did that digimon have something to do with what happened on the lake when I was listening to music?

"Koushiro's right! Even Patamon feels her emotions!" TK agreed, causing Yamato to look at his little brother with Gabumon.

"Wait, did you know about this thing with Marie, TK?" Yamato inquired, causing his younger brother to smile awkwardly.

"Erm... Maybe..." He admitted, before falling silent and hugging Patamon closer.

"Oh _guys..."_ Gomamon began in a sing-song voice, catching everyone's attention. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we just might have to carry Marie if we don't find a place out of this heat, she's not doing too good."

"I'm fine," I disagreed, looking away and back towards one mountain that was now visible from outside of the forest. I could sense that dark essence from before coming from that direction. It wasn't very strong anymore and it wasn't causing me a headache with Tentomon in my arms, but it was still a little unnerving.

"...Alright, if you say so," Gomamon verbally dropped the subject, only to look up at Joe with an expression that clearly meant he wasn't going to drop it _entirely._

"Koushiro's right, we can talk about it later once we find a place to relax. For now, let's get moving again," Yamato intervened any other comments.

We got to walking again, with Koushiro falling into step beside me once more. I was thankful my hair was such a light color, any darker and my head would have been on fire. I could only imagine how Joe felt, with his dark colored hair absorbing heat.

 _Am I maybe being too cynical towards Koushiro? After all, Tentomon is right. He is just trying to make things less uncomfortable for me._

For a while, my mind began to wander, and then a shout suddenly returned me back to the realm of the living.

"Piyomon, please cut it out! Right now I'm really thirsty, tired, and I'm sick of all this walking! So _stop clinging to me!"_ Sora exclaimed, just as a sharp sensation of pain hit me. This wasn't the return of my headache though, it was an emotion from Piyomon, the sweet digimon that was still enamored with Sora.

Sora had hurt Piyomon's feelings.

I hugged Tentomon a little tighter when Sora's outburst began to emotionally affect me. Piyomon was starting to feel rather sad, and it worried me far more than I would have normally allowed it to. I mean, I've seen my friend Mika get scolded and yelled at in public many times, but even I never usually felt sad for her. I mean, sure it sucked, but...

 _What happened to the Sora I got to know back in the forest? This wasn't the Sora I met- Sora seemed really nice back around the Shellmon attack... The heat must be getting to her or something. Koushiro is right, we need food and water-_ especially water.

"Sora's tired..." Piyomon repeated, her tone despondent when she slowed down and allowed Sora to pass her. "I'm sorry, I'll keep quiet back here..."

Sora must have felt a little bad for her attitude though, because then she suddenly exhaled and was about to say something- that is until Piyomon turned away and moved to the back of the group, right beside Koushiro and I.

When I gave the pink digimon a smile, her mood started to improve a bit and she nuzzled her head against my legs. Piyomon was such a sweet digimon, she didn't deserve to be yelled at...

 _It's so hot... Then again, I'm not even sweating, so it can't be_ that _hot..._

"Hmm... Man, we just keep walking and with nothing as far as the eye-can-see! Maybe it's best that we head back and return to the forest for now," Yamato observed, causing Joe to begin nodding in agreement out of the corner of my eye when Koushiro and I stepped up to join the circle the group had made behind Yamato.

It was then that Tai decided to walk on up to Yamato's side with a slight grin that made my heart skip a beat for some reason. I was slightly annoyed at myself for feeling such excitement over something so measly and worried that the digimon would notice, but thankfully, only Tentomon seemed to have seen caught onto it.

Needless to say, I avoided eye contact and forced away any other emotions that would reveal my puppy-love feelings for Tai Yagami.

"Hold on one second…" Tai stated, pulling out his monocular and putting it up at eye level to peer through it.

...

Tai began to lean forward as he got a better focus on the landscape ahead, only to gasp and then shout, "I see a village!"

I instantly perked up at his words, racing to his side with Piyomon and putting Tentomon back down in excitement at the prospect of water. "Seriously?!" I piped up, making Jojo rejoice behind me and clasp his hands together with a large smile.

"See, see, see?! I knew there were people here!" Jojo shouted, just as I took a couple steps forward to walk ahead of them.

"In any case, I'm sure it's well worth taking a look at. What have we got to lose anyw-?" Koushiro began until the digimon suddenly jumped, looking over at me in alarm when I froze dead in my tracks with a soft, "Ah."

"Marie?" Piyomon, who had been following in step with me, inquired curiously, watching as I paused and let my arms go slack at my sides.

Realization flooded my exhausted brain- and any previous thoughts of _finally_ getting a scrumptious meaty burger in my system at a nice villager's home blew away with the breeze that had conveniently laced between the bound blonde locks of my ponytail.

I didn't even try to attempt hiding my emotions, as it was much too late and I was much too disappointed to do so. I looked back at the other seven kids with a blank expression of resignation, watching as all of them and the digimon took in my first ever honest public display of emotion.

"I sense digimon ahead. A lot of them," I informed them crestfallen, watching as Jojo took a moment to stare at me before shaking his head defiantly and marching up to me.

"Come on, Marie, quit joking around and let's go see for ourselves," Jojo scolded me, taking my wrist and pulling me along.

"Alright, I guess it's settled!" Tai said, scratching the back of his head as he caught up with Jojo, Gomamon, Piyomon and I. "Um, you alright there, Marie?"

"If they have food, I will be..." I mumbled in reply, following after Jojo aimlessly as he pressed towards the village to prove me wrong.

...Or right, I guess.

* * *

 **A/N: Short, but it will have to do for now. I'll try to make the next chapter longer! Lot's of things planned for the first meeting between a Digimon infected with a black gear and Marie~!**


	7. Ch 7: Target Acquired

**Chapter 7**

* * *

 ***Marie's P.O.V***

"I told you there were a lot of digimon ahead. Was I wrong, or was I not?" I remarked to Joe, looking up at him when we stopped in front of the small village Tai had spotted through his monocular.

"Wow, this is tinier than I originally thought it was- I thought it just looked small 'cause of the distance," Tai commented, leaving Joe standing slack jawed beside me as he processed what he was seeing.

"We sensed you were thirsty! Here!" A little voice chimed in from one of the little straw huts, jumping out and revealing only one of the many similar creatures that inhabited the little village we stood among like giants.

They were like little pink roots with blue flowers on their circular shaped bodies, walking around on many small tentacles along their undersides. The one that had spoken brought a wooden bowl right up to me, causing me to flinch and dash behind Jojo nervously. They didn't _seem_ dangerous, but I felt uncomfortable due to their green-eyed awe struck stares trained on me, causing Gomamon, Agumon, and Tai to lightly laugh while the other kids walked around to examine the digimon village.

"Don't worry, they're just Pyocomon. They won't hurt you, Marie," Tai tried to comfort me, misunderstanding the reason for my distress and taking the offered bowl from the small digimon to hand it to me.

"No, no, Taichi, that's not why she's hiding. Marie's just nervous because they're all staring at her!" Agumon corrected his partner while I took the bowl from my crush.

"Thank you..." I mumbled to them, glad I didn't have to try to explain myself. I guess that was one plus to having my emotions out on display for the digimon to sense.

I took the bowl from Tai and began to raise it to my lips, only for the little Pyocomon to gasp in light awe.

"Her hair is so yellow-y!"

"Yellowey, yellowey~!" Some of them sang, causing me to pause before finally taking a drink.

To be honest, I was almost shocked at how clean the water tasted, and I'd been hiking before. Usually nature's mountain water was pretty clean, but for water out of the wilderness like _this_ to taste so good... It was pretty surprising and I felt better after getting some liquid into my system. In fact, the Pyocomon began to jump around cheerfully after my drink.

"Happy, happy! She's happy!" One Pyocomon cheered, jumping around to the other kids with the rest of the flower digimon.

"I feel happy too~!"

"Me three!" Agumon started to join in, jumping up and down as well and nearly slapping Tai in the face with a limb. I couldn't help but pull the bowl away at that moment, taking in Tai's panicked look when Agumon's claw swept close enough to take an eye out. Water spat from my lips and I shoved the bowl in Jojo's arms to burst out laughing, only to hear the Pyocomon giggling among themselves as well.

"Huh, that's interesting..." Koushiro observed, looking from my relaxing features to that of the absolutely entranced Pyocomon that were looking at me and the other kids. "Is it just me, or are these Pyocomon extremely sensitive to Marie's emotions?"

"Maybe it's because they're Lesser digimon?" Tentomon suggested, while I caught my breath and hauled myself back onto my feet.

"Thank you for the water," I acknowledged the little digimon, only to feel a pulling at my shirt from my back. I turned to see Sora and Piyomon, the latter of which was pulling me to get my attention and the former looking around in clear surprise at the many pink critters around.

"Marie, _I_ used to be a Pyocomon too! Before I was Piyomon, I was a Pyocomon!" Piyomon stated in clear excitement, pulling on my shirt more until I stepped forward towards her.

"Oh?" I inquired, just as Agumon popped up beside the pink bird digimon.

"I used to be a pink blob too! I was a Koromon!" Agumon chimed in, only for Tai to roll his eyes at him with a grin.

"You want her attention too?" Tai teased the dinosaur digimon, who left Tai ignored to stare at me just like Piyomon and the other Pyocomon were.

"I'm sure you were just as cute, Agumon," I decided to say, giving the gold colored digimon a sweet smile in hopes of satisfying his efforts for my attention (if Tai was right, that is).

Agumon jumped up and down again, jumping over to Tai and hugging his legs. "Taichi!" Agumon started trilling happily, causing the brown haired boy to stare down at his digimon partner with a confused but small chuckle.

"Why are you acting so odd, Agumon?" Tai asked with a nervous laugh, watching the digimon nuzzle his leg much like Piyomon was doing with me.

"Koushiro, I think Marie is just as sensitive to the Pyocomon as they are to her... And I think it's affecting a few of us," Palmon started to say to the red haired kid near her, meanwhile clinging to Mimi's leg and rubbing against her side warmly. "I kind of feel like Piyomon right now~!"

Any other comment Koushiro or Mimi made to Palmon was blocked from my attention when I plopped down on my bottom to catch my breath, rubbing my forehead and feeling my happy mood quickly slip from me.

To the shock of myself and some of the other kids, Palmon, Agumon, and Piyomon (Including Patamon and Gomamon from afar, while Gabumon and Tentomon had watched us contently) stopped jumping around and lovingly nuzzling their human partners. The Pyocomon surrounded me on the ground at a close distance, worry etched across every single one of their faces.

"Heat stroke!" Some of the Pyocomon cried. "She's got heat stroke!"

"More water!" They chanted, spreading from our location to race around their little village.

"What?! Marie, are you alri...?" My cousin's words faded from me so fast I barely perceived it at all. My head was burning up again, and whatever had been pushing away my headache from before sent it reeling back to me threefold when Jojo's arms wrapped around my shoulders to steady me. It was like a yo-yo, and felt much like that dark sensation from back in the forest.

Everything was kind of spinning for a second, and it took a moment before I could start hearing the voices again, despite myself feeling dizzy.

"Marie?" I heard TK speaking to me, though his voice sounded far away and distant.

"Marie, can you hear us?!" I heard Mimi shouting, only to be scolded by Yamato to lower her voice.

"...She's not normally susceptible to heatstroke, I don't understand this. She's one of the healthiest people I know- she's never fainted before," I heard Jojo's familiar voice as I blinked my eyes open.

All of a sudden, as quickly as it came, it was gone. I found myself staring up at the many faces of my camp mates and cousin, including their worried digimon. With a curious expression I touched my forehead and made a weird face, bewildered at the fact my headache had returned and vanished so quickly

 _What was that? Just a dizzy spell or...?_

I moved to stand back up only for Jojo to object with, "No, not yet. Sit down for a little while. You don't want to get up too soon and faint again."

"I'm fine though," I informed him, despite not making another move to disobey his orders.

Well, he _was_ studying to be a doctor, so I assume he knew best.

"Guys, don't worry about Marie. Walk around and give her some air, crowding her will only make her nervous," Jojo said, his voice rumbling from his chest. It wasn't until then that I realized I was seated on the ground with Jojo, his arms around me so I could rest against his side and wait to recover from fainting.

"A-alright," I heard Sora murmur, giving me one last worried look before walking away with Piyomon to look around.

"She's fine now, I think," I heard Gabumon inform Yamato and Tai, where Agumon looked back at me as he followed the three away.

"More water! We want you to feel better~!" A trio of Pyocomon chirped, bringing a fresh bowl of water up to me.

Jojo took the bowl with a thank you before assisting me and bringing it up to my lips. I took generous sips before pulling away when I felt Gomamon crawl on our laps. Automatically, I brought the digimon in for a hug and relaxed beside Jojo again.

I was so happy only minutes ago- far happier than I could last remember being. I was so happy I think I had been close to tears at the time.

The moment had ended too quickly though, and it was now that I remembered our situation and the situation I had left back in Japan with Jojo.

"Why are you sad?" Gomamon asked in my arms after a second.

"..." I couldn't find an answer and looked up at Jojo, receiving a small smile from him.

"Don't worry about it, Gomamon, just... Make her feel happy again," Jojo said to his digimon partner, reaching over to caress his head much like I usually would. Gomamon made a noise of discomfort and smirked at Jojo after nudging his hand away.

"You can't pet me right. Only Marie pets me nice- she understands me," Gomamon claimed, making me begin petting him instead. Jojo shot the digimon a look when he began nuzzling my hand and humming in delight.

"Spoiled fuzzball," Jojo commented, making me crack a grin at his antics.

"I'm not spoiled! It's not like I'm _making_ her pet me!" Gomamon retorted indignantly, to which I started gently stroking the underside of his chin to quiet him into a melted puddle of content humming. "I love you…"

I giggled a little, bringing Gomamon up against my chest to give him a hug. "I love you too," I replied, hearing a whimper from afar that had the three of us looking up curiously.

Some ten or so feet away stood Agumon with a longing expression, making me chuckle and open one arm out towards him when I took in the longing look on his face.

"You too, Agumon, come 'ere," I submitted, making the orange digimon jump in glee and rush over to give me a hug. I could hear Jojo huff in vexation, clearly uncomfortable with all the hugging going on while I rested by him. "Marie, don't encourage them!"

"Want food? You'll feel better! We will bring you food!" A trio of Pyocomon came up to us, causing me to release Agumon to address the small lesser digimon. "We will feed your friends too! They'll feel better!"

"Yay, food! Let's eat until we're stuffed!" I heard Mimi cheer from beside a Pyocomon hut, jumping to her feet with a glowing grin on her face.

"Food sounds great, but… Just what kind of food are we going to be offered anyways? I don't see any poultry farms around here," Koushiro muttered to himself a few feet away, seated much closer to Jojo, Gomamon, Agumon, and I than I'd realized before.

"Waaaater! Hehe, we can't let Lieutenant Marie drink it all by herself!" I could hear TK shouting from somewhere, running through the village and to a water fountain where a couple Pyocomon were huddling around to start serving our friends water as well. "That's a pretty fountain, did you guys make it yourselves?"

"Teehee, no!"

"Meramon made it for us!"

"He's a nice digimon that lives up on Miharashi Mountain!"

"The fountain is connected to a water source up there! It's really yummy!"

Chime after chime, the Pyocomon spoke up to talk about their fountain in an endearing manner, causing Tentomon to pop up beside TK curiously.

"Ah, so this is the famous Miharashi Mountain water…" Tentomon stated thoughtfully.

Curious to see more, I put Gomamon back on the ground and shifted to stand, hearing Jojo groan at my stubborn resistance to rest. Despite that though, I was glad that he didn't attempt to sit me back down again.

Agumon trailed after me when I walked over to the fountain to look at the water I'd been served moments prior. It was clear like Caribbean ocean, yet drinkable and tasty as described by the Pyocomon and my accustomed taste buds.

While looking at the water, I noticed my reflection staring back at me. I was mildly startled, which I felt stupid for after calming my heart down. If Tentomon or Agumon noticed, they didn't show it.

I could make out purple bags under my eyes, like I hadn't slept well or something the past night. My ponytail was tangled a little at the end, and at the sight of it, I stepped away from the water and reached back to pull the band off. Immediately, the thick strands of blonde locks cascaded over my back and shoulders, curling up in a few areas in bouncy waves.

"EEEK!" Mimi squealing had me jumping yet again, and before I knew it, she had her arms on my shoulders and was spinning me to the side to take in my hair. "Oh my gosh, you have such pretty hair! So… CUTE!"

Mimi reached into the bag at her side, shoving through everything before pulling out a hair brush and turning me so my back was to her.

"I'll take care of your hair, Marie, don't worry!" She gushed, quickly detaining my blonde hair prisoner as she began to brush through the knots, starting from the bottom and making her way to the top. Thankfully, she seemed relatively good at hair care, and my hair wasn't pulled in any way that was uncomfortable, let alone painful.

"Sheesh, Mimi, she's not _actually_ a doll," I heard Tai chuckle nearby, making me blush slightly.

"I know! She's _better_ than a doll! Like… Like a little sister! I'm so jealous of Joe, if she were my cousin, I'd lock her up in my room and take her everywhere with me!" Mimi continued to chirp, right before finally undoing all my knots and beginning to part my hair down the middle. "I'm going to make you look even cuter than you already are~!"

"Thank you," I said gratuitously despite my minor discomfort. She was a little overbearing with her amorous attitude, but unlike the way Sora dealt with Piyomon, I knew it wasn't a bad thing.

Mimi didn't have to brush my hair. She didn't have to be nice to me. She didn't have to shower me with attention. The fact that she liked me so much was heartwarming- it made me feel sort of… important.

Why would I be upset about that?

By the end of her hair styling, I had two thick loose braids hanging low over both my shoulders, reaching my chest and tied at the ends with two spare bands she had used from inside her bag. As soon as she turned me to face her again, she brushed my bangs into shape and then grinned at her work.

"Perfect! …URG, why aren't you my little sister?! I'd adopt you in a _heartbeat!"_ She gushed some more, sticking her hair brush back in her bag.

"Wow, Marie, you _do_ look cuter than before! And that's saying something- I didn't think it was possible to push it further," Tai spoke up, making my insides coil up in a fierce reaction to his personal opinion. I hastily hid my internal reaction towards his words, but blushed more and smiled bashfully.

"Th-thank you…" I murmured shyly, hearing Agumon giggle behind me.

"H-hey, the water's gone!" Jojo suddenly blurted out, snapping everyone (wait, were they all watching Mimi and I?!) back into focus. Just like my cousin had pointed out… The water was gone. No reflection staring back at me as I leaned over the edge to look in, no fresh water to pass out to my thirsty friends. Guilt filled my gut, despite Agumon quickly rubbing my back when he felt it, probably trying to make me feel better.

I did not feel any better regarding the matter.

I leaned away from the fountain to look at everyone else, just in time as a blast of fire suddenly erupted up from inside the internal plumage within. Alarmed at the sudden blast of hot fire missing me by moments, I jumped back with Agumon, bumping into Mimi and Palmon.

"F-fire?!" Patamon spoke up in disbelief.

"It's- It's okay! We have a lake a little ways away from the village!" A Pyocomon supplied hastily to ease our worries. Tai jumped at their words, heading in the direction the Pyocomon gestured with their blue flower heads.

"Let's check it out! Come on, Agumon!" Tai ordered, prompting the orange dinosaur beside me to skirt around me and follow his partner with quick steps.

I would have followed had my stomach not suddenly dropped. A sense of dread hung over me as I turned my head to look at the aforementioned Miharashi Mountain from afar. The same mountain the gear had flown to and the same mountain that I was sure had been the cause of my recent headaches- probably my dizzy spell as well.

"Marie, are you alright?" I heard Mimi speak up, her usually excited or complaining voice surprisingly switching to a tone of worry when she caught me staring at the mountain. I looked back at her, finding that all the other kids had gone running to check the lake the Pyocomon had spoken of. It was just Palmon, Mimi, and I by the fountain of spurting flames.

"…I think something bad is happening up there. We should be extra careful, just in case. I don't want anyone to get hurt," I spoke up, feeling a rush of ease when Mimi took my words seriously and nodded in understanding. I was starting to like her even more than before.

"Okie-dokie artichokie! I believe you. We'll be careful," Palmon spoke for Mimi and herself, giving me a thumbs up when I smiled in relief.

"There's no water in the lake," Tentomon popped up beside me, reporting back to us and looking at me curiously. "Are you sensing anything, Marie-han?"

I repeated what I had told Mimi just as the other kids were returning, noting the look of specifically Yamato's face at my words.

"Are you _sure_ you're feeling what you say you're feeling? I don't know… Maybe you're still under the stress of all that heat stroke," Yamato remarked, which I ignored since…

Well, I didn't need to validate myself to him. I wasn't even speaking to him, I was talking to Tentomon. I didn't have to prove myself to him, what was the point of he wasn't going to believe me in the first place? Besides, hearing my thoughts was enough to plant a seed in his brain- maybe he would still take heed of my words.

"We also have a well if you want to check that out for water too!" A Pyocomon cut into the group, leading us to a well on the other side of the village where a rope and wooden bucked was set up to take water from inside.

Tai, like the natural born leader he seemed to be, grabbed the bucked and leaned over with Yamato (URG) tossing it in until…

 _ **BANG!**_

"'B-bang'…?" Tai repeated, confused at the collision of solid material against more solid material. Where was that soft sound of solid against water? Where was the splash and dunking sounds?

I hugged my arms and rubbed my sides up and down quickly, feeling a wetness seeping out of my pores as an indescribable heat started to overtake me. It wasn't like that heat stroke I had experienced before, this was like I was holding something really hot. Burning hot, like burning wood pressed all over my body. Involuntarily, despite the heat I felt, I shivered in discomfort.

"Pull it up anyways," Yamato ordered, prompting Tai to make a noise of agreement before he started pulling the rope and bucked back up.

As soon as he had pulled up the end of the rope, he made a funny face and held up the burnt remains of the rope- lacking in both water and the wooden bucket that had been Attached prior to the experiment. Within moments, another spurt of fire suddenly followed Tai's actions, causing him to jerk back and wince when the fire licked his right arm. I heard Agumon gasp, pulling Tai further from the flames just in case he got burnt anymore.

 _Where's all of this fire coming from?!_ I thought to myself in shock, feeling Jojo grab hold of my wrist and tug me closer to him. He was frowning, looking up at Miharashi Mountain and visibly swallowing down anxiety as the other kids tried to figure out what was causing the spurt of flames within the Pyocomon well and fountain.

Nausea started to rise in my stomach, making the burning sensation over my body intensify. I was extremely uncomfortable, so much so that I wished I'd been visiting a cooler place up high in the mountains.

My discomfort seemed to start being noticed by the other digimon, mostly the Pyocomon since they were quick to scurry around in a panic and begin chanting.

"Burning, burning, burning! She's overheating!"

"It's burning hot! Need water!"

 _Burning._

My eyes narrowed on an orange sparkle coming off of Miharashi Mountain in the far distance, a speck of light that was rapidly travelling down the side of the natural structure at a speed that put me in a state of further discomfort as it got closer.

"Joe..." I whined, wiping sweat off of my forehead and directing his attention back down to me despite the strange orange light on the mountain. "I don't feel good... It's coming from over there."

The use of his actual name rather than his nickname must have sent alarm bells going off in his head, because Jojo suddenly reached down and wrapped his arms around me, lifting me up in his arms easily and looking to Tai.

"Where's your monocular? Can you focus on that light on the mountain?!" Jojo took control of the gaping and scrambled kids and digimon, quickly demanding order with just that statement due to the tone of his voice.

"Y-yeah, gimme a second," Tai stammered, visibly surprised at his authoritative about-face and quickly producing his monocular to peer at the light on the mountain.

I rested my cheek over Jojo's shoulder, watching Tai examine the mountain with heavy eyelids as I forced myself to keep from shutting down. There was a heavy anxious ball of fear growing in the pit of my belly, as if something bad were going to happen soon... Just like I'd told Mimi, Palmon, and the others. The dizziness, nausea, and discomfort... The sensations of burning up and feeling a tinge of rage in my mind... I didn't have to be a genius to notice that they weren't _my_ emotions. I was not causing this in any way, nor were the digimon partners or the Pyocomon.

"…! I see a digimon! It looks like it's made out of fire!" Tai reported n, causing my stomach to drop again.

The burning sensation. It made sense now.

"Meramon is coming down the mountain!"

"Meramon _never_ comes down the mountain!" The Pyocomon were chirping in a panic, scurrying around Jojo and I fearfully.

I could feel their panic, which was just on the same wavelength as my own and growing steadily. The fact that they were able to sense my emotions and that I was able to sense theirs... It was like our panic and anxiety doubled every moment we noticed the other's panic.

I needed to calm down.

For _them._

I took in a deep breath and forced myself to isolate my inner turmoil from theirs, doing the exercises that my therapist had me practice nearly every single session I went in. My mind travelled from the flame digimon that was headed towards us and to a much calmer thought process, like...

Like the air.

It was humid, the sticky kind that nobody liked, but every now and then, a cool and pleasant breeze would comb through my braids and gently brush against the moist areas of my skin. Unlike the air back in Shibuya, this air seemed a lot clearer than the dirty scents and thickness around the city. This air was light, a featherweight that satisfied even without the sharpest breath one could muster.

I was calming down, and as I did so, I noticed the Pyocomon had stopped scrambling around like cooped up chickens, moving around slower and some even stopping to... I think concentrate on my calming aura.

"Guys, we need to get away from here, he's headed this way!" Yamato realized, ushering TK and Patamon along first and then regarding the Pyocomon. "Pyocomon! We're gonna take shelter in the ship that was beneath your old lake! Post haste, let's move!"

Jojo was the first to get moving, hurrying along with Gomamon at his heels to get the Pyocomon to follow them. In the midst of everything, I watched as the orange light from Meramon's approaching figure descended into the foot of the mountain, most likely now travelling the stretch of land that was in the direction of the Pyocomon village.

Jojo, Gomamon, Mimi, Palmon, TK, Patamon, Yamato, Gabumon, and I were among the first admitted into the shelter, with Jojo being forced to sit me down by the edge of the upper ship's hull and railing while he assisted the others in getting the Pyocomon on board too. He'd attached Gomamon to my hip though, just to give me extra security and stuff.

"D-don't worry, Marie, we're here with you!" Gomamon tried to reassure me, but his words did little to settle my nerves. It was literally taking me every ounce of my being to repress the burning feeling that was erupting out of every pore from my body.

I was starting to lose control of the calming aura I'd only recently acquired.

 _I... I_ hate _this. It hurts! ...But even if I went home, would it just be the same?_

"Marie, _it's okay,"_ I flicked my blue irises towards Gomamon, who wore a patient smile and was starting to nuzzle my neck and chin. "You're okay, focus on our emotions- we've got this under control."

At first, I wanted to shake my head and refuse. The look Gomamon was giving me though... It was desperate. I could feel his desperation to make me relax, the despondence running through him as he watched me suffering under a burning sensation he probably didn't quite understand.

He was here though, trying to fix me up.

 _I can't be fixed, it's not that simple!_

Was I still even referring to the empathic connection between myself and the strange black gear?

"Please, trust me," I heard Gomamon whine, still not giving up just yet.

 _ **We'll be back soon! Trust me, it's not even far.**_

"Listen to us." Gomamon's tone had dropped to a relaxing lilt, one that eventually I gave into and shut my eyes to focus on.

I reached out to all the digimon and did as I was told.

I listened.

Four on the deck, two below at the hull where a hole had been ripped open to make an entrance, and one I recognized as Piyomon at the cliff that led up to the Pyocomon village. As if sensing that I was reaching out for their support, I felt waves of relaxing emotions wash over me- enough that I was starting to be able to push away the burning feelings from the black gear.

Give or take a minute or two, and I found the control to keep it from affecting me so badly and shoved it away as hard as I could.

The burning sensations stopped.

"I..." I trailed off, eyes snapping open in time to note that Yamato was staring at me from the edge of the deck, instead of looking over at where Meramon would appear with Mimi, Joe, and TK.

"There. You did it," Gomamon giggled in my lap, clearly staying upbeat if only to reassure me. I could feel that he was sort of anxious about the situation with Meramon and the black gear affecting me, but was doing his best to keep me focused on good, tranquil emotions.

I looked back up at Yamato, about to ask what was happening until I realized he was no longer looking at me- having shifted his gaze to stare over the rail with a look of alarm on his face.

It was then that I felt two emotions sharply swing- Piyomon becoming panicked and an unknown digimon sparking up in excitement and dreadful delight.

I spun around entirely, Gomamon falling from my lap and yelping a little when I grabbed onto the rail and hauled myself up to look at the cliff.

"PIYO-" I started, but my shout was muffled under Sora screaming her name over my own voice. The tangy haired girl was running away from the shelter, heading towards the cliff to try and reach Piyomon.

My stomach turned when Meramon, a digimon _entirely_ made out of fire, swatted an arm at Piyomon as if she were some insignificant insect, casually watching as the pink digimon tumbled down the cliff and into the waiting and horrified arms of Sora. Relief pumped into my stomach as I saw her catch the digimon, but not enough to make me relax again. Meramon was still too close to them for comfort. The digimon could easily just jump down to them and finish the job of hurting them.

When Sora and Piyomon had a moment to talk and speak sweet nothings to each other, I frowned in confusion. Meramon hadn't moved, so I looked towards him...

And found him staring back at me.

 _"You..."_ Meramon's eyes flashed dangerously, promising nothing good when I realized he wasn't looking at anyone else _but_ me. I was specifically being targeted- like he'd forgotten about the other digimon and kids.

I felt an hand wrap roughly around my wrist, tugging me away from the railing and cutting off my eye contact with Meramon.

Mimi had latched onto me so fast I barely realized it had been her to reach for me. She shifted me closer to her, nailing Meramon with a glare so feral I was surprised that the upbeat and happy-go-lucky fashonista could muster such a look. Palmon and the digimon on the deck (that weren't the weak Pyocomon in need of protection as well) stood in front of us kids and lesser digimon, Yamato and Jojo shifting so that TK, Mimi, and I were at the back near the Pyocomon.

"Why is he only looking at Marie...?" Jojo huffed in discomfort, reaching back to hold my other wrist while Mimi kept me near her.

Meramon faced us and buckled his knees slightly, thought I knew what he was doing even before he made those actions.

"He's going to jump," I alerted the others, though my statement was either ignored or not heard due to the thick tension of what Meramon would do.

Which is why they were surprised when Meramon let out a deep cackle, like the cracking of sparks in a fireplace as he bent his knees as much as he could. Upon completely unraveling and coming out of the bent position, we watched as the flame digimon pounced across the gap between the boat's deck and the cliff- jumping so far that he flew over our heads, and landed on the railing behind the Pyocomon and myself.

The Pyocomon naturally panicked, and as they scattered away and unintentionally made a path straight towards me, Meramon lunged with a demonic look on his face. His arms opened like the pincers of an insect... And snapped shut around my waist and arms.

I let out a piercing cry of pain, the bones in my small body audibly cracking to the force of the digimon as it ripped me away from Mimi and Jojo. Surprisingly enough

"NO!" Jojo shouted, pushing past the other kids and throwing out an arm to try and snatch me back.

Too late.

"Marie!" TK called out, all of the kids and digimon on the deck momentarily petrified as if they couldn't believe what had happened.

They didn't expect that, and to be honest, neither did I.

Meramon pounced over them again, this time landing on the railing and promptly diving off down towards Tai, Koushiro, Tentomon, and Agumon.

"What's happe-?!" Tai was starting, turning to look up towards us as we landed just between Koushiro and Tai. Tai's and Koushiro's eyes both went wide as dinner plates at the sight of me tucked under Meramon's arm, having being shifted mid pounce into another uncomfortable position that made my ribs hurt. My torso was hanging over his left arm like a towel, one that was struggling to squirm out of the burning hold he had around my frail form.

All the while, I was mentally chanting to myself my favorite mantra, reaching out for the digimon partners of my friends and tryig to find that relaxing support they had created for me before. Unfortunately, all I found was chaotic and uncontrollable hysteria. They were too panicked to help me calm down, and slowly but surely, the sick sensations that emanated from the black gear (wherever it was) began to creep back inside of me. I was close to the point of needing to find somewhere to vomit due to the dizziness that was taking hold of my body.

Before either Agumon or Tentomon could do anything, Meramon reached with his other arm to get a better grip on me and swung me around. For a second, a gentle breeze grazed the mildly burnt skin under my clothes where Meramon had held me (along my back and around my waist). It was a moment of relief for the burnt areas and my startled emotions... But it ended quickly.

Blacking out when my back hit the hull of the abandoned ship was swift, as if someone had simply flicked the switch of a lamp off.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm back. More to come, hopefully soon.**


	8. Ch 8: It'll Be Okay

**Chapter 8**

* * *

 ***3rd Person P.O.V.***

"SORA, Let go! Marie's in trouble! _Please!"_ Piyomon panicked suddenly in the arms of one confused red head, extremely bewildered at the abrupt struggle that had taken hold of the pink avian digimon that forcefully squirmed from Sora after they had hugged. Puzzled and unsure of what else to do, Sora's arms fell slack and she was soon running back towards the ship, trailing after flying Piyomon.

Sora's focus returned to the flame digimon and she looked past her usually amorous digimon, just in time to see Meramon jumping off the deck and landing down between Tai, Izzy, Tentomon, and Agumon- the latter pair of digimon which looked like they were panicking as much as Piyomon currently was.

Sora started to freak out herself too, especially when she saw a familiar blonde braided girl tucked under Meramon's arm. The girl visibly squirmed, though her efforts seemed to be fruitless against the flame digimon and she flinched every time Meramon moved.

 _What? Marie?! What does that digimon want with her?!_ Sora wondered to herself silently, legs suddenly bursting into an adrenaline pumped speed to the point that her calves began to burn to her exertion as she watched Meramon reach for Marie with his free hand and...

It was incredibly painful for Sora to watch.

Meramon grabbed one of Marie's arms, and with a violent and swift swing, slammed her small body back against an intact part of the metal hull of the ship. A heartbreaking noise left her right before she slid down and went still- as if she had every molecule of air forced out from her lungs.

Sora was rightfully horrified, but an indescribable rage built up within her gut at the same time. On her way towards them, she spotted a thick bat-shaped piece of wood and scooped it up, vaguely hearing Tai's and Izzy's startled voices when they struggled to get around Meramon and reach Marie. Their digimon partners were trying to attack Meramon, but for some reason, neither of them were doing much damage. In fact... It almost looked like it was making Meramon gather more mass, his height and flames increasing with every "Petite Thunder" and "Baby Flame".

Sora hastily closed the distance and deftly swung the branch at Meramon from behind, aiming for his head with all the force she could muster from her underdeveloped ten-year-old muscles.

The crack of the branch hitting Meramon's head resounded across the dry lake floor, followed by a roar of pain from Meramon when he turned away from the other digimon to face the red haired girl. At that point, Sora suddenly went stiff with fear. She'd hit Meramon, but now what? She'd _hoped_ he'd have keeled over like bad guys did in the action movies when they were dealt blows to the head... Seemed like it was just wishful thinking that she might be able to stand a chance against the fire digimon.

Her petrified state didn't last long when Meramon raised an arm. Sora's eyes widened and she instinctually swung the branch again, flinching a step back as she did so.

Unfortunately, she didn't manage to hit him this time- at least not the way she'd planned to.

 _"Burning Fist!"_ Meramon shouted, his right fist flaring to life like a torch with a sharp vibrancy as it met with Sora's branch, snapping it in two and making the girl drop the end of it when it began to catch fire.

This was when the digimon managed to successfully step in, as their attacking had been doing nothing at Meramon's flame backside. The resulting action was for all three at the immediate area to tackle the rogue digimon, with Gabumon, Palmon, Patamon, and Gomamon tackling him out of nowhere in a second blow to keep him off balance. Every effort to make a good distraction and assist Sora.

"Sora! Grab Marie and get away from here!" Piyomon ordered frantically, looking back from Meramon as she pushed against him with the other digimon. Sora snapped out of her stupefied state, running around Meramon and towards the limp girl behind him.

Sora almost paused when she saw the burnt areas of her clothes, a few holes along the back and the entire lower hem unevenly burnt off and sizzling slightly with smoke. With her waist exposed, Sora could see a bruised ring around Marie's stomach that had pity welling up inside her.

There was no way she had time to be careful with her injuries though, so Sora lifted her up onto her back and raced around the hull of the ship to increase the distance between herself and the crazy flame digimon.

As Sora shifted her, Marie grunted softly by Sora's ear, clinging to the older girl's shoulders and trembling as she started to regain consciousness. Sora was extremely relieved she was still moving- still breathing... She wanted to look at Marie's injuries and see what she could do to help ease her pain, but it was more of Joe's forte. He was probably going ballistic right now...

He wasn't going to be happy when he saw her current state.

"SORA, WATCH OUT!" Marie abruptly shouted, startling Sora from the volume and its implications. However, despite its abruptness, she didn't hesitate to dive towards the left. They'd moved just in time to dodge a shooting blaze of fire that had been aimed at them, charring the ground where they'd been at moments before.

Sora's jump threw off her balance though, and she lost her grip on the younger girl. The two tumbled to the ground, a small amount of space having increased between them when they had fallen. Marie and Sora were quick to scramble back onto their feet, just as Meramon initiated a far more malevolent version of "dodge ball" that had the two jumping in almost every direction when his attacks sped up.

How Marie could still jump around and run after being slammed against the ship by a digimon twice her size had Sora mentally scratching her head, but now was not the time nor the place for such inquiries.

All the while, Meramon fought off the only other two digimon that were still strong enough to fight- that being Gabumon and Palmon.

 _"Poison Iv-_ OUCH!" Palmon cried out, her purple roots shooting back towards her as she nursed her arms from the burn of Meramon's body. "Not smart, not smart...!"

Gabumon tackled Meramon off his footing again, but Meramon continued to throw fire at Sora and Marie, pausing only to grab Gabumon by the tail and send him flying into Palmon behind him, causing the two to crumble when their bodies made contact and sent them sprawling towards the other kids.

"Sora! Marie!" Piyomon shouted when Meramon returned to his dangerous game. Sora had gotten back close to Marie, grabbing the blonde by her right wrist. Sora's heartstrings jerked painfully when Marie whimpered mildly to the contact. Sora must have touched a burnt patch of skin.

Despite Marie's pained sound, Sora shoved her behind her own body, trying to put on a brave face in hopes of maybe intimidating her foe away. Meramon, just about to throw more fire at them, paused in his ministrations. Was it working?

"Stay back!" Sora snapped, hoping her voice added to her demand for him to step away from them. Meramon was an intimidating size from absorbing some of the digimon's attacks, standing taller than the average human male and towering over them despite being around ten feet away. Speaking of sizes, now would have been a good time, Sora thought, for Agumon or Gabumon to evolve a stage up and help them.

Peeking behind Meramon though, the digimon were strewn around the ship with most of their human partners at their sides, Piyomon weakly trying to advance despite bearing what looked to be a hurt wing.

Meramon was silent for a moment, but it was short lived as soon as a manic laugh erupted from his sewn flame mouth, giving the appearance of lava dripping from the threads. His appearance and behavior sent chills down both Sora's and Marie's spines.

"Human... If you give me that short one behind you, I promise I will not harm you nor your friends. This doesn't concern you," Meramon spoke up surprisingly casual for being the same digimon that had been screaming about _'burning up'_ through the entire tussle with him.

 _"'Doesn't concern me'?_ No I'm not going to give Marie to you! Who do you think you are?! She's done _nothing_ to you- what makes you think you can just throw her around like that?! She's _my_ friend too! If you want her, you're going to have to get through ME," Sora pretty much snarled, surprised she had it in herself to say such things. In the heat of the moment, the words had fallen out of her mouth, and now she had a feeling that they were about to bite back.

Meramon scoffed and hunched over, smirking like a demon. "Fine. I warned you."

Sora's eyes widened when he lunged to close the distance, and she spun around to throw her arms around Marie like a shield. Her eyes snapped shut, realizing that this might be the end. She'd never thought of death much before, and she hoped it wasn't as bad as it sounded.

 _"It'll be okay."_

* * *

 ***Marie's P.O.V.***

 _"It'll be okay,"_ I heard Sora say beside my earlobe, her arms wrapping tightly around me and irritating my burns and bruises. Meramon, despite his cries of being _'burning hot'_ , wasn't actually as burning hot as I originally assumed, what with his body being made out of fire. I'd burnt my right wrist, a small patch on the left side of my back, and my right hand, but other than that, the worst of the damage were the bruises.

I felt my skin tingle uncomfortably when I saw Meramon lunge for us, but despite seeing him advancing to attack our unprotected bodies, my thoughts lingered on Sora's words. Her uncanny statement at such an improper time... They didn't make any sense to me.

I replayed them over and over in the small window of time Meramon was approaching, until I realized the underlying meaning of what she said. I felt sick as I processed the meaning.

 _...Did she think we were going to_ die _?_

Roughly shrugging Sora off of me in a last ditch attempt to my now activated fight-or-flight response, I snatched up a large stone from the ground and launched it over Sora's shoulder towards Meramon. I didn't know if it was even going to be effective, but I was scared and it was all I could think of doing.

I was scared of watching _it_ happen all over again. I couldn't go through that again- not here, not _now._

The feeling of desperation in my stomach was one I couldn't remember ever experiencing, and it paid off when I watched the stone successfully make contact with Meramon's face. Meramon had gotten dangerously close in the time I'd been thinking over Sora's words, making it impossible to miss the threatening digimon.

Meramon staggered back when the stone hit him. At the same time, I felt a familiar sensation grow from within my chest- a feeling I'd only felt one other time since I'd met up with the other kids in this strange place.

It was an energizing feeling, originating from a protective, emotional, and loving source behind Meramon.

With slow realization, I figured out who it was coming from.

 _Piyomon._

"PIYOMON evolve to... _Birdramon!"_

Just like that, a large brown bird the color of autumn leaves flew over us, a clawed foot snatching Meramon's staggering body up a foot before slamming him back down to the Earth with a stomp of her foot. My braids blew back with every flap of Birdramon's wings, and I couldn't help but gawk a little at the new form Piyomon had taken.

 _"Birdramon...?"_ Sora gasped, looking up and watching as the bird digimon engaged Meramon, who had stood back up and was taking to throwing more fire at Birdramon from the ground. Birdramon was doing a fantastic job at dodging, closing her wings and spinning whenever a blast of fire tried to make contact with her wings. Unfortunately though, Meramon was able to dodge her stomps easily as well, and nobody was able to hit one another.

The digimon had taken their fight back on the top of the cliff, Meramon's attempt to try and get closer to Birdramon and the sky. It seemed to do him no better than when he was at the bottom of the dried lake, but he continued trying to fight anyways.

Sora stopped dawdling and grabbed my left wrist, tugging me back towards the others near the hull of the boat. I was relieved that I managed to stop Meramon in time for Piyomon to evolve, or else it might have been possible she'd be too late to help us... And then Sora'd be...

 _Don't think about it._

All the kids and their weak digimon were huddled together waiting for us, Jojo stepping forward to meet us and wrap his arms around me once I was close enough. Surprisingly enough, even though my injuries weren't going to heal quickly, just having Jojo near me again gave my injuries some relief. Everything was better with Jojo around.

"Are you two alright?" He asked both Sora and I. Sora nodded without hesitation, but I paused before agreeing anyways.

Was I really okay? I didn't know. I was physically injured, but other than that... Sora's haunting words when Meramon attempted to finish us off was what unnerved me the most.

...No. I was _not_ okay.

A piercing sound of Birdramon shrieking made us all look up, where Sora was already gazing at her digimon partner in the sky. Meramon had managed to clip her wing again with a blast of fire, and the sharp pain resonating from her made me believe that even though she visibly tried to shrug it off, the blow hurt her more than she let on. Sora let out a panicked sound, watching her friend soar back in the sky and turn towards Meramon.

Birdramon backed up and folded her wings against her form, willing a buildup of energy to form. I was completely caught up in "listening" to the fluctuations of Birdramon's emotions and feelings, breath caught in my throat as I watched with my back to Jojo, who had shoved Gomamon in my arms to busy me with hugging something.

In a single sweep of her wings, Birdramon let loose the ball of energy inside her, which released from her in the form of an attack.

 _"Meteor Wing!"_ Her voice bellowed, orange flashes of burning light shooting down towards Meramon at a startling speed with a deadly accuracy. The flame digimon had been laughing moments prior, but as soon as he saw her attack aimed for him, his grin vanished with the wind.

 _"No!_ Not... YET!" Meramon snarled, attempting to dodge just as the balls of shooting energy collided with his body. Meramon's body shook and twitched in an agonized pain, one I could feel every ounce of as we watched his body go back to its original size, shrinking down and leaving the digimon huffing in exertion.

Before anything else happened, his gaze shot back towards us kids, narrowing on my form specifically. I felt a protective surge of caution from the digimon around us.

 _"You will regret this,"_ Meramon promised me specifically. Needless to say, my stomach twisted uncomfortably at his words. As if I needed any more stressors with what was already going on.

Trembling violently, Meramon buckled over and let out a cry of pain, curling up in a ball as if to protect himself from something. Birdramon maybe?

My answer came in the form of something shooting right out of Meramon's lower spinal region, flying up into the sky and shattering into a fine dust that left no trace of itself once the wind dissipated it's particles.

The nausea and terrible feelings I'd been pushing aside since we'd first gotten to the area vanished along with it, causing a small noise of surprise to leave me when my head stopped hurting.

"Was that the black gear from the forest?" Yamato gawked, before our gazes shifted back over to the large bird digimon that was descending towards Sora.

A golden light enveloped Birdramon, lasting a second or so as she devolved back into Piyomon and dove straight into Sora's arms with a gleeful cry of her human companion's name.

"Piyomon~!" Sora chirped in delight, hugging the pink digimon against her with a look of such happiness on her face that I had to look away.

 _It'll be okay._ Those words would surely haunt me every time I looked at her. The thought of her not being here with Piyomon... Not being here with the rest of us... It wasn't right. It was an uncomfortable thought.

"Marie, how are you?" Jojo asked me, bending down to my level to check my sides and lift the tattered remains of my shirt to look at the burns. I gasped when his fingers grazed a burnt bruise, jumping away from him and bringing Gomamon closer to me.

"I-it's okay, I'll be okay," I blurted out.

 _No you won't._

"Maybe you should sit down for a bit..." Gomamon suggested, followed by rather desperate nods of the rest of the digimon company.

I was just about to give in and comply when I felt something from the cliff, making me turn my gaze to the curled up ball atop the edge of the dried lake. I could feel Meramon again, but it was... different this time.

Meramon was confused, and feeling sore in every imaginable region of his body. It was different from his previous emotions- like the gear had implanted its own personality into Meramon and had snuffed out whatever sense of individuality had been present in him while he was fighting us. Now that it had been expelled though, I could feel the _real_ Meramon. Loud and clear.

He was sort of startled for some reason, unsure and extremely groggy.

"Hey!" Gomamon shouted, as if he'd been trying to grab my attention for a while apparently. I didn't even realize I was running until he had brought me back from the clouds, the aquatic digimon giving me a funny look. "Are you _trying_ to scare the other kids half to death? You were just thrown around like a fried rag doll- why are you running around? You should _rest,"_ Gomamon stressed, taking a moment to squirm in my arms and look over my shoulder. "Ooo, looks like _Jojo's_ going to give you an ear full for this. Good on him, you stubborn thing, you."

"I'm fine," I lied, turning up to the path that led up the steep inner ring of the cliff side. There was no telling when the water would start filling the lake back up anyways, so it was definitely better to get out of there before we half drowned or something.

"You're _lying,"_ Gomamon replied in a sarcastic sing-song voice, which I chose to ignore in favor of reaching the top.

When we did finally get up there, I found Meramon sitting with his hands to the ground, head bowed and hanging almost in what looked to be like... Shame.

He _was_ ashamed, I realized when I tuned in to his emotions. Ashamed for his actions- he had _remembered_ what he'd done.

"Human..." Meramon looked up, blue eyes meeting mine. Previously, I'd seen him having blazing yellow eyes like lava. Now that I was seeing his true self, I was taking in his natural eye color, which paralleled a vibrant hazy marble blue. At my noticeable stare, Meramon turned his gaze towards the side, as if he couldn't bear to look me in the eyes.

"Please don't look at me like that... I don't deserve it. I've hurt you and your friends. I should have been stronger to resist the power of that dark energy. This should not have happened..." Meramon quietly stated, reprimanding himself and sitting cross-legged to continue hanging his head so it was hidden from my view.

 _His eyes are beautiful..._ I thought, staring a moment longer before composing myself. He was so sad, and it made my heart swell with empathy. It wasn't his fault he attacked us- it wasn't his fault he became the pawn of a black gear. He was as much of a victim as I was.

I had to choose my words carefully if I wanted him to feel better... Well, at least that's what I learned from my therapist when I once asked about her job. She said certain things altered people in many different ways- and the wrong words could do more damage than good, even with the best of intentions.

"..." Gomamon was silent as he listened to our conversations and my emotions. He looked like he wanted to say something to me, but I spoke up first to Meramon.

"Still... Even though you don't think you deserve it... It's alright," I consoled him, stepping closer and kneeling beside his somber form when he looked back up towards me. "I forgive you."

Meramon stared at me for a second, like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was extremely puzzled, and too his confusion, I decided to make an inquiry by amplifying my curiosity and looking in those pretty blue eyes of his.

As if only then realizing the emotional connection I had with digimon, Meramon scrambled onto his feet, startling Gomamon into lifting a clawed flipper in case Meramon went crazy again. To ease the digimon in my arms, I pushed his claw back down with a frown, shaking my head at him.

"I...! _You're-!"_ He stuttered, to which I relayed _more_ confusion this time than curiosity. His blue eyes scanned me for a minute, and once he seemed to find his answer, he chuckled to himself and gave me a knowing smile. "Ah. Never mind, little one."

I puffed my cheeks a little in suspicion. "What? Do you know something I don't?" I questioned, leering at his face.

Rather than answer, Meramon got down on one knee and gently took my right wrist and hand- placing his own hand around the burnt areas. A surprised, but not fearful, noise left me when his hand didn't burn me. Now that I wasn't being attacked (and Meramon wasn't in battle-mode), I realized he felt completely solid- as if he were like the rest of us.

Meramon stumped me again when his hands began to release a gentle relaxing heat that eased the burns on my right wrist and hand. Once finished with that, he rested his other hand at my exposed lower back, relieving the burns there and bringing his hands to my shoulders when he was done.

"You said your name was... Marie?" Meramon inquired, making me nod to confirm.

Out of noticing Gomamon looking over my shoulder again, I scanned behind me with my empathetic senses, finding the other six digimon behind us along with the sensitive crowd of lesser Pyocomon, no doubt with the other kids there too.

"That black gear... I do not believe it's the only one around here," Meramon informed us, resulting in nervous chitchat from the others. As I assumed, the other kids were audibly behind me, and Jojo finally stepped up beside me.

"You think there's more?" Jojo asked, mild uneasiness flashing in his eyes.

"Yes... I've noticed strange happenings from atop Miharashi Mountain for a while now, but this was the first time a foul event took place here near the Pyocomon Village," Meramon explained to Jojo, before shooting me a worried glance. "Your friend is blessed, but I'm sorry to say that the element of her blessed state makes her a target for those with negative intentions."

 _"What?_ Why?" Sora spoke up, making Meramon stand up and help me onto my feet with him.

"While under the control of that dark energy, I noticed it was attracted to Marie. I'm not sure what it would want with her, but that ability of hers could be the reason it was so focused on eliminating her," Meramon continued, looking towards the other kids.

"What should we do?" TK asked, reaching over and linking his arm with mine as I hugged Gomamon a little tighter. Gomamon nodded in a greeting towards Patamon in TK's arms, who giggled when he met Gomamon's gaze.

Meramon shot TK an amused glance. "Are you going to let them take her?"

TK shook his head hastily and glared at Meramon for asking such a question. "No way! Why would we do _that?!"_ TK growled.

"There's your answer. Do what you can to keep _that_ from happening," Meramon laughed lightly.

The Pyocomon gradually gathered around all of us, one by one approaching Meramon after deciding that he truly was back to normal again.

"Meramon, will you be going back up the mountain again?"

"Meramon, are you hungry?"

"Meramon, stay for dinner!"

Meramon sighed, giving a sigh of resignation as the Pyocomon all surrounded him, pretty much shutting down any path he had to head back to Miharashi Mountain. "Very well," he said, which resulted in the Pyocomon surrounding TK and I next, jumping up and down cheerfully.

"We promised a feast! We will get the food!" Three Pyocomon chanted, before scurrying on ahead towards their village with the rest of us trailing behind with the entirety of the Pyocomon village.

"Yum! I can't wait to eat something!" TK cheered, pulling me along with Meramon at my other side.

With a peek behind me at the other kids, I noticed them sharing fearful glances at what had been told to them about me. Before they saw me staring at them, I turned away and repressed my uneasiness.

 _It'll be okay._

 _Everything will be fine._

 _I'm okay._

Meramon seemed to sense the turmoil within me despite my attempts to quell it, surprising me when his eyes flicked down in my direction curiously. Not even Gomamon, who was _in my arms_ felt my repression of emotions. Did their level of evolution vary how intense my connection was to them?

Thankfully, Meramon did not say anything to the others about it. Looks like he knew I didn't want the others knowing of my uneasiness at the new information. I mean, sure it was granted I'd feel nervous that something was going to be after me just for having an ability I never asked for... But I didn't want them to worry so much about me that they'd do what Sora had done.

It was dangerous.

I had to learn to take care of myself anyways, I was already eight years old. Even _TK_ was far more independent than me!

 _I can do this,_ I decided, and with that thought, I relaxed and approached the village with the others, taking a seat beside one of the huts with TK. In moments, the little village was passing out bowls of what looked to be seeds, making my stomach mildly growl.

They passed bowls to the digimon and then us humans. I could see TK giving his bowl a funny look, but rather than worry about whatever he was thinking, I started to chow down on the seeds.

They were like rice-sized sesame seeds, so I certainly had no problem with the taste. As long as I got _some_ kind of food in my belly, I was fine. Jojo was sitting on the hut to my left, Gomamon eating on my lap and Patamon sitting at TK's side to eat his bowl in a similar fashion to TK. _That_ was adorable to see.

"Hey, if you chew it enough, it's not so bad!" I heard Jojo claim from my side when a few of the other kids, mainly Sora and Mimi, complained about it not being 'what humans normally ate'. To each person their own, I guessed...

I seemed to be one of the first to finish eating, and once my bowl had been emptied, I thanked one of the Pyocomon and approached Sora at the far corner of the village, where she was chewing slowly and trying to resist making faces at the taste of the seeds. I took a seat near Piyomon, who gave me a smile when I approached with a still munching Gomamon in my arms.

"Um... Thank you both for helping me when Meramon tried... uh..." I tried to say, biting on my thumb nail momentarily when I couldn't find the right words to express myself. I'd never had trouble with gratitude, but it was so odd to say it since I was usually so shy. Usually Jojo apologized or expressed gratitude for me in my reserved place, however, if I wanted to show them I could take care of myself, I had to start speaking up for myself. And that meant I couldn't _not_ search for the words I needed. I had to find them and relay them properly. I had to do it myself and swallow down on my anxiety. _"'Eliminate'_ me.

Sora looked quite surprised at how bold and to the point my sentence was, but nodded anyways, smiling with Piyomon. "What else were we gonna do? We didn't want to see you get hurt. It's no problem, Marie," Sora beamed, before looking down at her bowl of seeds. "Er... Did you _actually_ eat all the food they gave you?"

I nodded, giggling at the look of disgust on her face.

"You're one tough girl, Marie. I don't think I'll even be able to make it past half of my ration," Sora laughed under her breath, Piyomon finishing off her bowl and pushing it aside to lean against my side and purr contently when I reached over and began to run my fingers through her soft pink feathers with a smile.

In the midst of caressing Piyomon while Sora struggled to finish her meal, I felt something gently brush against the back of my neck. Startled by the tickle, I jumped a little and my head snapped to look behind me.

Nothing was there.

"Meh-rhhih?" Gomamon asked, mouth stuffed full of seeds when I turned back to look at him. I burst out laughing at the sight, hearing the Pyocomon around jump around and immediately fall into giggles and happy moods in relation to my emotions. Gomamon swallowed the contents in his mouth, licking his chops while I brushed away the seeds stuck to his face.

"It's nothing," I assured him, rationalizing that it must have been a breeze making my hair tickle my neck.

* * *

We spent the night at the Pyocomon village, but even as the sky went black and the stars had come out, I was unable to sleep. I rested on my backside and counted the brightest stars, thinking about the events of that day.

... _Agumon evolved when Tai was in danger. Then Piyomon evolved when Sora was in danger... It's like every digimon here is partners with one of the other kids, with a purpose to protect them when the case calls for it. Like a mode of defense for them, since we don't stand a chance against these digimon on our own._

 _So if that's the reason they have digimon partners..._

 _Why in the world am_ I _here? And what's with the gold device I got at the camp? Where are we in relation to the rest of the world? Why can I feel other digimon and their emotions? Why could I sense Meramon burning up if it wasn't an emotion? Why was the black gear, an inanimate object and_ not _a digimon (I'm assuming), affecting me so much with its dark energy?_

 _...JUST WHAT IS GOING ON?!_

"Marie?"

I lifted my head and turned, finding Gabumon standing right behind my pillow and staring at me with an expression of concern on his face.

"Um... Yes?" I inquired.

 _He heard my flurry of emotions, didn't he?_

"Your stress seems to be getting the better of you. I brought you some water," Yamato's partner said, holding out a brown bowl to me with a small smile.

 _Yep... He did._

I sat up carefully, making sure not to kick Gomamon at the foot of my sleeping area as I took the bowl from Gabumon with a small 'thank you'.

"Would you like to talk about it?" Gabumon politely asked, to which I blinked at him in surprise as I took a small sip of the water. He didn't look tired at all, but maybe it was because he wore that fur over his body and it was concealing his face. Rather than stare, I shifted my eyes towards all the other digimon and kids, finding them all fast asleep other than Yamato who was looking over at Gabumon and I out of the corner of his eye.

When I caught him looking, his eyes flicked back towards the fire in the center of the Pyocomon village.

 _Did he send Gabumon over, or did Gabumon come over on his own accord?_

I looked back at Gabumon and gave him an apologetic smile. "Probably, but I don't think right now's the best time. Frankly, I think I'm just stressing out over nothing. Thanks for the offer though, Gabumon," I said, nodding my head as a sign of respect that Gabumon mildly blushed at before bowing his head a little in return.

"Alright. Sleep well then, Marie," Gabumon said, returning back to Yamato's side while I finished drinking my water and glanced back up at the starry sky.

 _I guess only time will tell..._

* * *

 **A/N: Aaaand, I managed to pump out another chapter in one day! yayA!**


	9. Ch 9: A Glimpse of the Past

**Chapter 9**

* * *

 ***Marie's P.O.V.***

"Hey, Marie. It's morning, time to wake up," I heard a familiar voice murmur beside me, causing me to roll onto my stomach and push up in a dazed sitting position. Color me surprised, Agumon had snuck over to sleep next to me sometime in the night, curled up at my side and making a sound of discontent when I moved to wake myself up for the day.

Sora was kneeling beside us, a bundle of folded clothing in her hands as she greeted my drowsy expression with a smile. "The Pyocomon took me to wash the sand out of your old clothes. They didn't have fabric softener or detergent, but it'll have to do for now. Come on, I'll take you somewhere to change. Mimi's already waiting for us," Sora said, standing up and taking my hand.

"Nooo, don't go..." Agumon moaned from where we left him, though I didn't really listen to him since I was still kind of half asleep.

We found Mimi at the outskirts of the Village, near the lake where the sunken ship that had served as a shelter the day before still stood with its rusted hull poking out of the water. Mimi shot Sora and I a grin, joined by Piyomon and Palmon, the latter holding a blanket or towel of the sorts with a cheerful expression on her plant-like face.

"Good morning~!" Piyomon chirped, jumping up to greet me with Palmon.

"Hi," was my simple reply, with a yawn catching me off guard near the end of my plain greeting.

"Oh, she's the cutest..." Mimi melted, taking the blanket from Palmon gently and handing a corner to Sora. Sora passed the clothing to Piyomon, and with a wink from both girls, they pulled the blanket up- efficiently creating a curtain to block any peeping toms from the boys back in the Piyomon village as they gathered more necessities like food for however long our next walk would be.

"Alright. Whenever you're ready, Marie!" Palmon giggled, holding my clean clothes while I stripped of the charred remains of my old clothing.

It was while I was in the process of pulling my aqua blue button tank on, I heard Piyomon make a noise of curiosity. "What's that red spot on your hip?" The pink avian digimon asked moments after, making me pause and lift the hem of my shirt to look at what she was talking about.

I smiled a little, blushing at the fact that other than Mika and Mom, no one else every really caught sight of it. Mika was my best friend- and I used to have trouble getting along with other kids before the start of this year. _Now_ it wasn't that I was having trouble getting along, it was that I was too shy to make friends...

On the edge of my hip at the point where my hip met my waist was a striking red birthmark the size of a dollar coin, one Mika used to jokingly say looked to have the shape and texture of a strawberry. It was noticeable against my contrasting skin tone, and Palmon poked gently at it as if it were maybe a type of injury like the purple and blue bruises that were currently scattered across my back and waist.

Piyomon's questions seemed to attract Mimi's attention from looking out at the Pyocomon village. Upon seeing what the digimon were marveling over, she giggled. "Oh, that's a birthmark! Sometimes humans are born with weird marks like that, I think. My dad has one on his arm that looks like a bruise!" Mimi stated, looking at her arm and holding it down at the two digimon and myself while I pulled my clean pants on and gave Sora and Mimi a nod that I was ready. "See, I have the same kind on my arm! My mom says it was passed down to me from him. I like mine- it looks like a heart!"

Sora folded the blanket up while I undid my now messy braids to run my fingers through my hair, gathering it once I'd gotten through most of the tangles and pulling it up into a lazy bun to catch any fortunate breezes in the scalding environment.

"You kind of remind me of Cinderella with your hair like that," Sora stated, watching me when I gathered my old clothing from the floor and then looked at her in confusion. "Just leave them on the ground. After all, you can't wear them anymore."

 _Litter? Oh, but... That's so mean to the Pyocomon,_ I thought, before shaking my head in disagreement.

"I think I'll wait until we find an actual garbage dump. It feels wrong for me to just toss them anywhere," I decided, feeling Palmon's and Piyomon's delight at my decision. I guess they liked that I wasn't about to leave garbage lying around their world or something...? I don't know. Either way, they seemed delighted about _something_ I did, I guess.

"Alright then, that's fine too," Sora said, only looking a little embarrassed about the conversation.

Piyomon seemed to notice it too, and to ease Sora back into comfort she shifted the talking back to the previous topic. "Why's it called a 'birthmark'?"

"Because they usually form on the body while we're still in our mother's bellies. A mark before birth- even though I'm sure some form afterwards too," I supplied, hearing Mimi 'Ooo' in interest.

"Wow, Joe was right! Even _I_ didn't know that about birthmarks!" Mimi hummed in awe, looking towards Palmon while we all made our way back to the Pyocomon Village. "How are _digimon_ born, Palmon?"

Palmon frowned and held her hands up, shrugging. "Beats me. I don't remember!"

Sora, quickly absorbed in the curiosity of the topic, faced Piyomon at my side, where the pink digimon had linked her wing with my arm and was nuzzling my arm lovingly. "Do you remember, Piyomon?" She asked her companion.

"No, I don't remember either," Piyomon replied, glancing at Sora with an expression of wonder. "Is it really important though?"

Sora pouted, but then smiled when she visibly pondered the digimon's words. "No, I guess it doesn't. I'm just a little curious is all."

"To be fair though, humans don't remember being born either, if you think about it. We only know how we're born through other people- like doctors or our parents- who are usually present during the process. Other than that, I personally can't remember anything from below the age of four. Probably has to do with our brains being fresh and undeveloped at the time of birth, and even then, adults brains don't fully develop until they're around the age of twenty-five. I heard my mom say that's why grown-ups can't rent out cars until they're that age," I suddenly started to babble calmly, only to glance back at the four of them when they stopped walking and looked back at me with blank faces of disbelief. Well, the digimon also looked confused, but still rather shocked in a way.

"...Are you _sure_ you're only in the second grade?" Mimi inquired, like she couldn't believe her ears.

I nodded, blushing and nearly slapping myself in the face for talking so much all of a sudden. If random facts were starting to fall from my mouth now, I must have been _very_ comfortable around them. A good reminder why I originally didn't make many friends- most other kids didn't like that I talked funny and unlike my age...

"Sorry, I talk too much!" I apologized, only then noticing that we had reached the edge of the Pyocomon village when I felt a familiar furry flipper patting my leg from below. I glanced down and leaned over to pick Gomamon up, giving him a nervous smile as I tried to step back from Mimi, Sora, and their digimon partners. "U-um, I'm gonna find Jojo..."

I turned away and scurried into the village, feeling my stomach nervously coil up and uncoil in a rhythmic discomfort. The girls must have found me extremely weird- I could kiss Mimi's squeals of delight and glee goodbye now that she knew how much of a "nerdy brainiac" I was.

"Are you alright? What are you getting so wound up over?" Gomamon asked in my arms, patting my hand to get my attention.

"Nothing," I lied, biting my lip as I passed by some of the other kids and their digimon partners.

 _"Lies~"_ Gomamon accused.

"Pretend they're true then," I grumbled defiantly, walking over to my backpack near Jojo and TK. Patamon was fluttering around his partner, cheerful in every manner possible despite most of us around being still half asleep.

"Good morning, Marie!" Patamon chirped, landing on my head while TK gathered a bag of seeds into his knapsack.

"Mornin'," I replied, kneeling beside my things and setting Gomamon down to shove my old tattered clothing at the bottom of my things.

"Drowsy~!"

"She's still sleepy!"

"Get her water~!"

"Get them _all_ water~!"

Every time the Pyocomon started chanting something, I couldn't help the smile that formed on my face. They were adorable, really, worrying so easily over me despite the fact I was a stranger- and not even a digimon at that.

Before I had the chance to swing my backpack over my shoulder, a bowl of water was thrust gently into my hands. I wasn't actually that thirsty, but not wanting to seem rude and unappreciative, I took a generous sip of the liquid. Surprisingly enough, one sip alone seemed to right my senses into action again. I was wide awake now, looking at the bowl of water in wonder. Those Pyocomon really _did_ know the secrets to curing all types ailments, didn't they?

I held my water up to Patamon on my head when I sensed a spark of desire for some of the liquid as well, smiling at his delight when I offered. Patamon took the bowl and drained it of the rest, handing it back to me once he'd finished and had wiped his mouth with a little arm.

"Thank you," he said, jumping down my shoulder and back to walk over to TK, who I was only realizing had been watching us the entire time. Thankfully, I didn't feel that uncomfortable sensation I used to feel whenever someone was staring at me, and grinned over at him. TK returned the gesture, walking over and holding out a hand that I took without a moment's hesitation to help me stand back up on my feet.

"Hope you don't plan on leaving me down here to crawl through the sand all on my lonesome," I heard Gomamon interrupt us teasingly, eliciting a laugh out of both TK, Patamon, and I.

"Hmm... I suggest you kids continue heading _that_ way. You might come across someone I feel might help aid you on your journey home," I heard a familiar voice speaking, making my head turn in the direction of the voice's origin.

When I saw Meramon, I stepped away from TK and skipped up to the flame digimon cheerfully (I blame the Pyocomon on my upbeat mood) throwing my arms around him from behind and startling Tai, Yamato, and Jojo whom had approached him first and were standing in front of him.

Meramon didn't even jump, as if already having known I was sneaking up behind him to give him a hug. All the while, he simply reached behind to rub my head gently while still facing the older boys and continuing the conversation with them.

"I haven't heard from my friend in a while, but I'm sure he could give you some assistance as where you might get more information. I can't say you'll actually find what you're looking for, but it's well worth a shot," Meramon finished, only then lifting his arm and looking back down behind himself so his blue, hazy marbled eyes met my own crystal blue ones. He wore a soft smile when his gaze fell on me. "Hello, little one."

I released his torso when he shifted to face me, getting down on one knee to speak to me like he'd done before when he was regaining consciousness by the lake. His expression turned serious, and I mentally prepared myself for whatever heavy news or advice he was going to drop on me.

"You _specifically_ must be careful out here. If you're ever in need of assistance, come find me and I will return running.

"Okay. I hope it doesn't come to that though- I'd rather see you again on better terms," I replied, feeling an arm suddenly link with mine. At first, I assumed it to be TK, but when I looked over, I found Mimi giving me a bright grin. I was surprised; surely she should have distanced herself from me after the load of my boring facts that had spilt from my lips earlier! However, this wasn't the case, and Palmon joined in by taking up my other side and linking my fingers with her plant stem-like forearm.

"Off we go then!" Mimi cheerfully announced, Meramon standing up and watching as the group headed out and sent the Pyocomon waves and 'thank you's for their hospitality. If I knew Mimi well enough yet, I knew it would only be a matter of time until she keeled over from all the walking we were about to endure. That was Mimi for you- optimistic until proven otherwise.

"Safe journey!"

"Eat your seeds~!"

"We will miss you!"

"Come back soon~!"

The Pyocomon continued to chirp as we all set off, me walking arm in arm with Mimi and Palmon around the front of the group. By Palmon, I could see Gomamon walking on foot (flipper?) and wearing a lazy smile.

"I _knew_ I was going to be forced to walk this time..." He groaned, making me chuckle and look ahead past Tai, Agumon, Jojo, Sora, and Piyomon.

The sun was peeking over the horizon in the distance.

 _Only a matter of time..._

 _Until we found a way back to Japan..._

 _...Then what?_

* * *

 **(2 and a Half Hours Later of Walking)**

"Wah... No... More...!" Mimi groaned, falling to her knees behind me after so long of a heavy silence over our group. By then, everyone at the back of the tirade looked to be near the point of collapse, with Mimi the initiating focal point. Moments after Mimi made her complaint, TK too stopped walking and teetered on his legs, Palmon falling face first on the ground with a relieved sigh between the two human children.

"I can't..." He paused to fall back onto his bottom with a painful thump, "Take another step..." He finished, Patamon fluttering down to sit on TK's knee caps and gaze at him sympathetically after he brought his knees up to his chest and caught his breath.

Koushiro just plopped down onto his side and wiped at his forehead with a gloved forearm, sighing in relief now that we had all stopped for the moment. He didn't look as tired as the others, and nor did Tentomon at his side, but I could tell he was still in favor of resting anyways. If anything, the four of them looked like they weren't going to beg the four older kids and their partners for a rest- they were just going to cash in whether they liked it or not.

Being one of the relatively younger four kids there, I surprisingly wasn't tired even a little bit- and I was carrying Gomamon in my arms again after much complaint from the lazy aquatic digimon the first thirty minutes of walking beside him. I was sweating mildly, but other than that, I felt like I could walk for a good twenty or more miles without feeling the need to drop down and shrivel up in the heat that was trying to overcome the lot of us.

"I see they're at their limits..." Yamato observed, crossing his arms and taking a seat near few shady trees out of the way from the clear path we were following. "To be honest, I'm kind of getting pretty close myself."

"How long have we even been walking?" Sora asked no one in particular, making me reflexively reach for my pocket until I remembered I had given up my gold device to Koushiro for examination. I couldn't help but scowl at the ground at the memory. I should have said no... He's a _meanie_.

"A little over two hours, Sora-han!" Tentomon spoke up from Jojo's left, taking to plopping down by Koushiro as he pulled his laptop out of its casing. Jojo and I decidedly followed suit, sitting near a shady tree maybe two feet away from the computer whiz and his beetle-like partner.

"...Guess this is as good a time as any to take a break," Tai agreed, sighing to himself and walking over to sit right beside Jojo and I with Agumon at his side.

I felt myself stiffen up when I felt his body heat radiating off of him- just like when we were back at the lake with the street car. A quick reminder that the other digimon would sense my change in emotions had me desperately pushing the feeling away yet again, and I focused on pulling my MP3 player out and sticking a bud in one of my ears.

While my device turned on, I could hear Koushiro murmuring to himself about his non-working laptop, visibly tinkering with it out of the edge of my vision.

I couldn't help but scrunch up my nose distastefully at his desperation. I mean, really, I liked computers plenty myself, but if it didn't turn on the first time, what would make him think it would power up later? His batteries were probably dead and needed to charge up is all.

At the red head's words, Tai was on his feet and had approached Koushiro with a friendly grin, snatching up his laptop to see what he could do to help his friend get it to work.

"I know a trick, Izzy! At times like these, all you've gotta do is bop it a few times like _this!"_ Tai proceeded to slap the side of the laptop a multiple of haphazardly, "And if you do it enough ties, it's _sure_ to get your laptop running again!"

Koushiro was rightfully stunned for a second, but as soon as he realized that Tai was hitting his beloved computer, he flailed his arms and garbled in panic, snatching it back from Tai. "Please, _don't!"_

Tai glanced at where Koushiro had retreated from him, hugging his computer close to him like if it were his child or worth more value than just a measly laptop.

"I was just trying to help...?" Tai said slowly, like he wasn't sure what he'd done wrong to upset his younger friend.

"Yeah, we know, Tai, but seriously... How would _you_ like it if we touched your treasured possessions and then started hitting them like cave men?" Sora scolded Tai gently from behind Koushiro, like it was an obvious social norm to not touch other peoples belongings.

...Which is totally was, but apparently in the world of Taichi Yagami, it wasn't.

Tai looked like a kicked puppy, scoffing and crossing his arms to look away in the distance.

Meanwhile in my spot by Agumon, Jojo, and Tentomon, I was biting back giggles and chewing on my tongue to stop a satisfied grin from curling across my features. Although I didn't agree with Tai's method of fixing electronics, it sure was fun to watch Koushiro panic over the abuse Tai had delivered to his precious laptop.

"What are you so smug about, _hm?"_ Gomamon asked from my lap, opening a single eye while I went back to searching for a song to listen to.

"This and that," I answered cryptically, only then noticing something peculiar about what was on the top left corner of my MP3 display. Confusion filled me as I stared at the little battery icon, which had an 'X' over it to signal that the batteries were dead. Though if they were dead, how was I able to listen to music right now? Why wasn't it turning off?

Koushiro had sat down a little further from Tai now, taking Tai's old spot beside me to my chagrin. Oh well... I shouldn't be so hard on him after all, but it's a little difficult _not_ to be annoyed with him. There was something about him that just irritated me, but whatever it was, I had no idea. Still, that didn't give me any right to mentally insult him and whatnot.

...Gah.

"Don't give up," I spoke up to him, making Koushiro look up at me curiously from where he was tapping at the keys of his laptop lamely. I flashed my MP3 at him, pointing to the top corner. "My MP3 turned on even though it says the battery's dead. Maybe the same will happen with your laptop."

Koushiro blinked at my MP3, and then frowned in thought. "I don't know. Seems illogical that it would turn on without energy... I think your music player just has a glitch that makes it appear like it's dead."

...

Oh. I think I just figured out what annoys me about him. He sounds like how _I_ probably sound to other people sometimes...

Only worse, because at least even _I_ can mentally grasp the idea of the presence of possibilities that could riddle our (and I guess this world too) flexible world despite the defies in logic that may come up or the inexplicable occurrences that throw all logic out the window.

I shrugged and looked away, snuffing out any previous idea that I was being too hard on him. If I don't like him, I don't like him. It's okay for me not to like someone- not everyone can get along with _all_ the people they meet. I'm no exception.

"Heh..." Gomamon laughed mildly in my arms, somewhat amused that Koushiro had once again thwarted any possibility of me liking him in any way. I didn't _hate_ him, no, hate was too strong of a word. I wasn't even sure if I'd _ever_ hated someone in my life.

Whatever though. I had Jojo at my side, and that meant that whatever happened- we would get through it together regardless of who was with us or not.

I moved to stick my ear buds back into my ears, only for my MP3 screen to suddenly flash when I pressed a button to change the music. Abruptly, the previous song that'd been playing stopped and a message visibly popped up on the small screen of the MP3 device.

It was white text on the black screen, reading the simple word, _"Greetings."_

 _'Greetings'? From who?_ I wondered, just as the text shifted and replaced itself with a new message.

" _There isn't much time. You must know, it's imperative to your journey. You are universal."_

I stared at the screen of my MP3 for a minute, well aware of Gomamon staring up at me intently while I absorbed the message I was reading. Why was it important for me to know that? Furthermore, what did that even _mean?_

The message vanished from the screen, and replacing it was the normal settings and music selecting layout from before. I pushed a couple of buttons when I returned back to the music list, popping my ear buds out as I attempted bringing the black screen back. I did every single possible button combo, but unfortunately, all it did was pause, play, fast-forward, rewind, or glitch up my music player.

It seemed like whatever had been around to cause the enigma was now gone.

"You alright, Marie-han?" I jumped at the voice, looking towards Koushiro and Tentomon, who were staring intently at me. I relaxed my features and nodded, reaching up to rub my forehead.

"Yeah! I'm okay. Just tired, I guess," I answered, making Tentomon nod in understanding.

It seemed like that was all I needed to say, and the two returned their focus back on trying to get Koushiro's laptop up and running.

Considering there wasn't much I could do with whatever message had been sent to me, I decided to busy myself with drawing. I was absolutely _done_ with my music player, so I shoved it at the very bottom of my bag to ensure I wasn't disturbed by the eerie thing again.

I pulled my sketchbook out and opened it to a fresh page, clicking the led into place on my favorite mechanical pencil and getting started with a simple outline of the two digimon I'd be drawing first.

I was in the middle of finishing a sketch of Tentomon and Palmon when I noticed that Agumon and Tai were no longer around us like they were maybe ten minutes ago.

"Where's Tai and Agumon run off to?" I asked Jojo and Gomamon curiously, Gomamon having been intently staring at nearly every stroke my pencil made against the paper of my sketchbook.

Gomamon quickly was shaken out of his momentary daze, but he only shook his head to signify he didn't know either.

"I think to the bathroom or something. Looked like he was in a hurry," Jojo stated, making me now and brush off my momentary worry to reach for my inking pens from my backpack.

"He's site taking his sweet time… And I thought Grandma Eiko took forever using the bathroom. He's not putting make-up on, is he?" I joked quietly to my cousin, causing him to snort with laughter at our inside joke.

It was while I was beginning to bold Palmon's shape that I yanked my pen off of my sketchbook in surprise when a voice spoke up behind Jojo and I.

"Making fun of me while my back is turned, eh, Marie? I didn't think you were the type! Okay though. I see how it is," Tai joked darkly behind us, causing me to grin a little and return to my sketchbook when he continued around us and towards Yamato.

Once I'd finished inking, I began coloring with a can't market set my Aunt had given me for my seventh birthday, starting with filling in the base tones for the digimon and then moving on to creating shadows in the correct spots of the digimon.

Being consistent with the colors had me looking up at Palmon and Tentomon often, but even though Tentomon was closer, it was Palmon who noticed my glances first. Clearly curious as to why I was looking at her so much, she walked over to us and planted herself up to sit on a rock behind me where I was leaning my back against. As soon as she saw the work I'd done of her, she gasped out loud.

"Oh, it's me and Tentomon! Marie, that's incredible, it looks so realistic! Wow, and I thought your picture of Falcomon on the beach was amazing! Where did you learn to draw so good?" Palmon praised, lacing her purple rooted hands together in delight as she admired my work of her.

"She learnt through years and years of practice. She's been drawing since she was born. Sheesh, and you managed to draw Tentomon without even a _hiccup_ of a mistake! Talk about making it look easy," Jojo chuckled, Gomamon staring blankly at the finished work once I'd finally lifted the last marker off the paper and scribbled the date and my signature at the bottom right corner.

"Hey, where am I on that page?" Jojo's partner demanded jokingly in my arms, prompting me to grin and tap my marker on the space of white fur between his eyes, leaving a small, random pink dot behind.

"I'll draw you next, don't worry," I giggled, watching him rub at his nose with a smile.

"Wow," Koushiro spoke up, looking away from his laptop to take in the sketchbook I held for Palmon to continue admiring. Surprise, surprise, it seemed like the computer kid did have some manners after all when he said, "That's really good, Marie."

I managed a smile back, despite the bite of annoyance that hit me just by speaking to him. "Um… thank you."

Tentomon soon hobbled over as well, wedging himself between Koushiro and I to peek at my sketchbook. Somehow, I had a feeling he was not only doing this to see my sketch, but because he felt my annoyance with his partner. What a good digimon~...

"Oh! Amazing, Marie-han! The resemblance is uncanny!" The insect digimon complimented.

"I try," I replied without hesitation this time, making a mental note of the grin Jojo was sporting next to me. Cleary he was pleased with how I was slowly starting to open up to the other kids and digimon, more so the digimon since we had an inexplicable link between each other, but I guess he counted it as a start… Probably the only good thing about landing in this world of 'Digimon'- I was gradually dropping my inhibitions.

"So wait, you're saying you spotted a factory out that way?" I heard Yamato ask out loud, making me and the others under our shady resting spots look up at Tai and Yamato a couple feet away under a separate tree.

"Yeah. It doesn't seem abandoned from what I saw, the pipes were releasing smoke and everything. Someone has to be in there handling the maintenance," Tai reported, adjusting his goggles over his hairline as he looked back over his shoulder.

I followed his gaze, and surely enough, I could see thin clouds of gray in the distance, a sign of air pollution and what was probably what Tai had described- a factory.

Agumon, who seemed to notice all of us staring at the boys next to him and Gabumon, zeroed in on me and quickly hopped over to Gomamon and I.

"Marie-stealer," Gomamon huffed good-naturedly when Agumon plopped himself down in the space between Jojo and I to lean on my shoulder lovingly.

Agumon's only reply was to give Gomamon a dopey grin as I automatically set my sketchbook down by Tentomon and Izzy, reaching over to caress the back of Agumon's lizard-like head tenderly. His skin was rough, unlike the soft feathers of Piyomon and the fur of Gomamon, but I didn't mind that much since it was an interesting sensation under my fingers.

"...We'll go check it out after we rest a little longer," Yamato pitched to Tai, who decidedly nodded in agreement. "You think that friend Meramon was talking about is there?"

Tai shrugged his shoulders. "We won't know unless we explore it. I'm not sure how their customs are here, but with a place like that, knocking on the digimon's front door won't grab it's attention. Thing looked like it had three floors or something."

 _Digimon..._ I thought to myself, stopping my caressing of Agumon to think about the title for the creatures a little. Until we'd all landed here, we didn't even know what digimon were. Now with hanging around them a little more, we had more questions than answers. This is a separate world from ours, right? It had to be... These creatures have never seen humans before. I assume they probably could have been creatures living on an isolated island yet to be found by people, but that wouldn't explain the flying digimon not being seen by humans. Those ones should have made contact _at least._

But they didn't. Which disproves the isolated island creatures theory.

 _Digimon..._ It was an interesting title for them.

"...Hey, Tentomon?" I spoke up after tucking my arms around my knees and Gomamon, looking on ahead without actually focusing on anything.

"Yes, Marie-han?" The bug digimon answered back quickly, eager to hear what I had to say to him. I could feel his nerves quiver in anticipation, and it would have put a small smile on my face had I not been so focused at the moment.

"You seem to know a lot about this place. You said you and the other creatures here call themselves, uh, _'Digimon'?"_ I inquired, causing Tentomon to immediately blush modestly at my assumption.

"Oh, well, I don't really know _that_ much! To answer your question though, yes. We call ourselves _'Digimon'."_

"...That's an interesting term to coin for yourselves... Does it stand for anything in particular?" I pushed, resulting in Tentomon to pause in surprise.

"Oh, erm... It stands for, uh..." Tentomon stuttered, scratching the top of his head with pointed foreleg. "It stands for something, yes, but I believe I've forgotten what that something is. I'm sorry!"

I gave the digimon a bright smile to reassure him when I sensed his emotions starting to shift into one of shame. That kind of information was a good start to answering the question us humans had- and it could probably lead us to even more answers later on. It was a bummer Tentomon couldn't remember what 'digimon' stood for, but at least he'd know that it _did_ stand for something.

"That's okay, Tentomon. You half answered it at least- and that's a big help to me. Thank you very much," I assured him tenderly, hoping to wash away any remaining shame from inside his heart.

For a moment, Tentomon stared at me. His emotions seemed to shift towards something rather neutral, and it made me cock my head to the side a little when I didn't understand his reaction. That was a first, considering how I usually knew what was going on with the digimon of our group... Was Tentomon holding back emotions like I did when bad thoughts came surfacing and I didn't want them to know about it?

 _They must sense the neutral emotions then... Only they don't worry much because they don't really understand it, sort of like how I don't understand Tentomon's neutral emotions right now._

It made sense, at least to me.

I waited a second more, and when his emotions shifted again into something more recognizable, I pushed away my thoughts for later and giggled lightly at the new adoration that had blossomed forth. inside of him.

"Marie-han, you're too saintly for your own good!" He stated, making my eyebrows knit together in confusion despite the smile on my face. 'Saintly'? How could Tentomon know the meaning of the term 'saint'? There were no churches here among the digimon, were there?

"Do you even know what a saint is?" I asked, raising a brow at the red beetle and challenging his knowledge out of curiosity.

...

"No...? _BUT!_ I assume it's something pure and good! Which correlates with your personality perfectly!" Tentomon declared, raising his foreleg and nodding as he spoke.

I smiled, this time a slightly embarrassed one as I shifted my eyes towards the ground.

"I guess since I seem shy, you see me as someone 'innocent'. Someone who is too timid to get into trouble or step on the wrong feet. The kind of person who is careful and thinks of other people first before themselves, right?" I said, chuckling when Tentomon immediately began to feel flustered at what I was saying. "Well, that's how I assume you guys see it. Really though- Me? Pure and good? Innocent? I don't think so."

I chuckled when I caught sight of the other kids looking rather surprised at my confession, sharing looks with one another and the other digimon around. I'd even managed to drag Koushiro out of his computer world, which was a feat of its own (but he'd probably not be interested had his computer turned on or something).

"What? _No,_ that can't be true..." Sora was first to casually say in disbelief, looking over at Jojo for the truth. "Joe, tell us the tr... Joe?"

Sora's smile turned into confusion when her eyes landed on Jojo, who was wearing a dark look of aggravation at all the memories of my misconduct in my past. Once everyone else had looked towards Jojo, it seemed like it was all they needed to realize that I was telling the truth.

"Believe it or not, Sora, Marie wasn't always as shy, polite, and tame as she is now. Earlier last year when she turned seven, she and her friend hacked into their elementary school's mainframe to play a school broadcast through every classroom's television of the adult song _'Escape'_ by Rupert Holmes," Jojo huffed sourly, causing Yamato to suddenly snort in surprise, much to my bewilderment. He had a sense of humor, huh? Guess that was his only likeable quality...

"Wait, are you talking about the _Piña Colada_ song?" Yamato asked, barely able to get his question out past his laughter. His behavior seemed to catch Gabumon, Patamon, and TK's attention, the three who looked extremely confused as to why it was so funny.

Sora's jaw had dropped a little, but it was now curling up into a twitchy grin as she stared at Jojo and tried to comprehend what was the truth.

Koushiro seemed to get the joke as well, laughing just a little before recomposing himself.

"...'Piña Colada' song?" Tai repeated in confusion, causing Yamato to pause and glance up at the brunette before dropping to the ground in even more laughter than before. At this point, I had covered my mouth and was giggling to myself as well, looking at the confusion crossing Mimi, Tai, TK, and the digimon's faces. Their expressions and the emotions from the digimon only made the joke even funnier.

"What's the 'Piña Colada' song, Takeru?" Patamon inquired cutely, making TK shrug and look over at me for an answer.

Since I was in a much better mood than I'd been earlier after my apparent annoyance with Koushiro, I gladly lifted my head and felt a cheeky grin form on my face. My uncharacteristic expression seemed to shock all except Jojo, who shifted his eyes towards me in slight alarm.

 _"If you like Piña Coladas-!"_ I began to sing in a loose joking manner until Jojo promptly slapped a hand over my mouth, practically slapping me from the force his speed resulted in.

 _"Marie Ann Kido,_ you will _not_ poison any more innocent minds!" Jojo scolded me, while I shot him a satisfied catty grin and moved his hand away from my mouth.

"It was hilarious and you know it," I said comfortably, something that didn't happen quite too often nowadays.

 _"It wasn't!"_

"Then why are you smiling?" I accused, causing Jojo to groan and look away- yes, _smiling._

"You _hacked_ into a schools _mainframe?"_ Koushiro repeated in wonder, elbow rested on his laptop as he stared at Jojo and I curiously, laptop entirely forgotten by the looks of it.

"You're cute, smart, _and_ naughty! Eeek, Palmon, she's _perfect!"_ Mimi squealed, snatching Palmon at her side and bringing her into an amorous hug. Palmon smiled in discomfort, gasping for air yet again.

"So you used to be bold and impish, right? ...What changed to make you become shy and reserved as you are now?" Tai questioned curiously.

Just like that, Joe and I stopped grinning like idiots. Our composures shifted anxiously and I flinched when the digimon caught the immediate swing of my emotions with bewildered expressions. I myself only panicked more by the stares I was getting, and my guard instantly rose back up into that shy and nervous exterior the others were more familiar with.

Agumon lifted his head from my shoulder in a snap.

"Y-you don't have to answer that!" He quickly spoke in place of his partner.

"Yeah, Marie! Everything's _okay,"_ Gomamon spoke up soothingly from my arms, touching my arm gently.

"Don't panic, we understand!" Gabumon added, Patamon nodding from TK's arms like a bobble head.

"We didn't mean to upset you, Marie-han!" Tentomon apologized, inching closer and taking one of my hands in his bug-like forelegs.

"Um... _Hey!_ Agumon, didn't you mention seeing a _factory?"_ Palmon claimed now that Mimi had released her in the confusion of the digimon's equal panic to mine, reaching over to nudge Piyomon with an insistent expression that made Piyomon jump and then nod in agreement.

"Oh...! _Yeah!_ You said you and Taichi found a _factory!_ We should go on ahead and check that out!" The pink bird digimon agreed, pausing to get closer and nuzzle my arm before turning to lead the ther digimon towards their partners.

"Come on, Takeru, I _need_ to see the factory!" Patamon insisted, flying and pulling at TK's arm until he stood up and followed, looking back at Joe and I as we watched the digimon round up their partners and lead them away from Joe, Gomamon, and I.

"But Marie..." TK trailed off with worry.

"Marie will be fine! She has Gomamon and Joe with her," Gabumon told TK reassuringly while he pushed Yamato on ahead beside TK and Patamon. Yamato looked mildly confused, but he followed Gabumon's orders and simply glanced back at us as they got further and further.

"Koushiro-han, I'm sorry to touch your treasured belonging!" Tentomon was shouting with panic, running on ahead with Koushiro's laptop held above his head carefully.

"W-wait a minute, Tentomon! Don't drop it, please!" Koushiro fussed pacifistically, chasing after his partner and leaving his laptop case behind in the process.

As soon as everyone had cleared out, Gomamon pulled himself up in my arms with a small smile- a wordless effort to make me feel better as he nuzzled his head against my jaw line. My uneasiness must have had me in a temporary dependent state, because I was reaching out to our digimon companions without really meaning to.

Even with the distance between most of them and myself, they were quick to respond and sent back soothing waves of comfort. Agumon's emotions were the loudest- he was sorry for Tai asking the question. He hoped I wasn't mad at Tai for asking it. He was worried about my state of mind after the sharp emotions he'd sensed coming off of me.

After I'd calmed down a bit, I noticed Joe had pulled me into a comfortable embrace- one where the side of my head rested against his chest. I could hear the relaxing sound of his beating heart, signifying he was alive and well.

I was quick to convey a message across to Agumon, hoping he would understand that I was not mad with Tai at all. That Tai, or anyone else, couldn't have possibly known it was a sensitive subject. I didn't blame Tai for asking it. I wanted him to know I forgave Tai and that I would be alright in a little bit.

...

"Don't worry, Marie. We'll get through this together," Joe spoke.

I swallowed down the thick block of ice that had threatened to silence me and pull me back into a darkness I never wanted to visit again, clinging to Gomamon for comfort. Gomamon complied without hesitation.

"I'm not going _anywhere."_

* * *

 **A/N: There we go! Now to just finish writing chapter 10... :3**


	10. Ch 10: A Burden

So, I've been asked by a few people about whether Marie from the story is going to have a digimon partner or not...

The answer is: **I'm not answering that.**

That would be the equivalent of the writers of Digimon telling us (after the episode where Kari is hinted at being a digidestined) who Kari's digimon partner was eleven episodes before Gatomon/Tailmon is even introduced and thirteen episodes before it's revealed to actually _be_ Gatomon/Tailmon.

Spoilers suck.

I ain't spilling any of these precious beans.

 **Chapter 10**

* * *

 ***Marie's P.O.V.***

When we joined the other kids over a steep hill, none were (thankfully) shooting me looks or judging me for my previous reaction to Tai's question. Their attention seemed completely and totally focused on something else just ahead of us. Once Jojo and I were close enough, we followed their line of vision, where we both could see the aforementioned giant factory as promised by Tai and Agumon. It looked so industrial- straight out of a classroom history book.

"Whoa..." Jojo gasped, eyebrows raised as he reached up to fix his glasses and take the sight in. It was only a minute or less that passed by the time a determined look of glee flashed across his features.

"Well, _Jojo,_ how do you feel about that?" Gomamon asked teasingly, vaguely reminding me of my therapist- only with a personality.

"I think... We're _definitely_ going to find someone in there! For sure it's going to be a _human!"_ Jojo exclaimed, taking my wrist and offering me a big grin as I hugged Gomamon closer to myself. "Come on, Marie, let's go!"

I squeaked a small noise of surprise when he ran on ahead of the others, dragging me along with him before I had the chance to even give Koushiro his laptop case back. I nearly tripped over my feet several times, attempting to get Jojo to stop- or at the least- slow down. Somewhere in the background, someone seemed to find my current situation cute, cause I heard a high pitched squeal of, _"Cuuute~!"_

I didn't even have to guess who that came from...

It was when we were nearing a path between two large cylinder structures that something had me applying the brakes on our running. I forcibly dug my feet into the ground to stop us from going any further, but unfortunately due to my lack of actual reliable strength, I only managed to slow us down a little bit when the insufficient force caused me to stumble. Despite that, I pulled at Jojo's hold in the opposite direction, and after a minute he finally noticed it when I opened my mouth.

"Joe, _stop!"_ I blurted out.

And he did.

Jojo slowed to a stop and glanced back at me in confusion, blinking wide eyes at me as he adjusted his glasses from all the running we did. "What? What is it?" Jojo asked, releasing my arm and turning to fully face me. He sounded concerned- probably because of my use of his actual name rather than his nickname.

"What's wrong, Marie?" Gomamon asked in my arms, looking up at me as I fixed my grip around Gomamon and curled the fingers of the same arm tighter around Koushiro's laptop case. "You're tense."

"I sense... Something," I hesitantly began, only because I felt eyes begin to laser in on me from behind. All I really wanted was for that sense of tranquility I'd had previous to my earlier anxiety attack to return, but it seemed like it was too much to ask. Still, I didn't like their attention on me, but it was better than them all ending up...

...Dead.

"Hm? What are you sensing?" Agumon asked, stepping forward behind me so that I was forced to turn and face the others. Just like I'd thought, they were indeed all staring at me. Waves of comfort drifted my way from the digimon, so I gathered the guts to continue talking.

"...I sense something. It's not very strong, but it's definitely there. All I ask is that we be careful," I spoke up timidly, hugging Gomamon a little tighter.

"Is it a digimon you sense?" Sora queried, a frown on her face as he crossed her arms and shifted her gaze downwards to her sneakers. She kicked a small rock aside with a troubled expression. "I hope it's not a bad thing..."

I shook my head. "No, it's not a digimon... At least I don't think so. I don't sense any digimon around except for these guys," I clarified, biting my lip and looking down at the laptop case in my hand. Upon remembering its existence, I turned to Koushiro and promptly shoved the case in his arms after shifting Gomamon to my other arm. Before he could say anything, I spoke again, leaving the red head standing there at my side with a look of embarrassment when I made my attempt to ignore him obvious by turning to face Sora pointedly. "I can't tell _what_ it is, or whether it's hostile or not."

Tai nodded in what seemed to be understanding beside Sora, though his eyes were lasered on the factory behind me. Was he even listening...? "Alright, we'll be careful, Marie. Thanks for the heads up," he said rather dismissively, reaching over to pat my head. Rather than melt under his attention like I usually did, I stared ahead at nothing when the other kids moved around me to continue on, making me turn and look after them with Jojo, Gomamon, a still stunned Koushiro, Tentomon, and Agumon. My cheeks puffed in annoyance, and I glared dangerously at the kids backs- this not including TK since he was looking back and shooting me an apologetic look when Yamato had taken his wrist to tug him along.

 _They're not taking me seriously..._ I thought to myself, before catching movement in the corner of my eye, belonging to Koushiro, who was turning to face me to probably thank me for bringing his laptop case to him. Considering I was still not on good terms with the kid, I cruelly started to power walk after the others, practically leaving Jojo, Agumon, Tentomon, and- of course- Koushiro biting my dust.

Gomamon obviously noticed, chuckling lowly in my arms with amusement. "Why do you dislike Izzy so much?" He finally asked, to which I simply puffed my cheeks more at the mere mention of his dumb, fuzzy nickname.

 _"Koushiro_ is a deceitful sneak who's already violated my trust..." I paused to raise a hand, mentally counting all of his atrocious misdeeds on my fingers. "...A total of _three_ times."

Gomamon grinned in my arms, like he knew something I didn't. "Aren't you being a little tough on the poor kid?"

I rolled my eyes, slowing down once we were close enough to the other kids and I had situated myself to walk next to Sora.

"Oh, _come ooonnn,_ Marie, show some mercy," Gomamon continued to talk, causing Sora and Piyomon to look at us with interest when they heard what Gomamon was saying. At this point though, I could sense that getting Sora's attention was _exactly_ what the aquatic digimon wanted, as a way of teasing me. "I'm sure if you spoke to him right now, Iz-"

I cut Gomamon off by clapping a hand over his big mouth. "Stop talking," I grumbled quietly, hearing Sora giggle under her breath at our weird behavior.

Gomamon was laughing quietly under my hand, but made no move to make me uncover his mouth. Sensing that he was done teasing me for my so called "cruel" behavior towards Koushiro, my thoughts returned back to the other kids that obviously didn't believe me.

 _...I want them to believe me. So that they're ready if anything dangerous catches us off guard! How can they do that if they just brush off my warnings? I don't want them to get hurt..._

We all slipped through the structures in the factory entrance, the digimon and myself glancing in every direction in case there was trouble. I was almost envious at the relaxed kids around me, but when I realized that Jojo was looking around discreetly as well, my heart swelled up.

 _I knew he was my favorite cousin for a good reason,_ I thought, glad that he at least believed me along with the Digimon.

When we crossed a section where gears and conveyor belts were in function, our group paused to examine our findings for anything of interest. At the sight of them, I shivered a little. If they were _black_ gears that I was currently looking at, I'd surely drag at least Jojo, Sora, TK, Mimi, Tai and all the other digimon back out by their ears (or some other body part, if they didn't have ears).

To keep my mind off of what happened yesterday when we first encountered a black gear, I tore my gaze away from the machinery and instead focused my gaze on a conveyor belt opposite of the gears. I was shivering a little, so I hugged Gomamon a little tighter to comfort myself. He was warm and cuddly as always, making no comment on my chills other than giving me a curious glance. I was thankful for his silence on the matter.

It was while I was hugging Gomamon tighter that I blinked when I saw the weirdest looking objects being transported along the conveyor belts I now faced. The metal objects resembled small sewing machines, the kind Jojo's mom- my aunt- would use to repair our clothing or any other household fabrics.

TK, Gabumon, and Patamon were lined up along the conveyor belt beside me at a safe distance from the mechanical devices, looking on at the automated pincers and other machinery that were attaching parts to the sewing machine-like objects. There were several of the robotic arms that were ready to attach more parts as the objects travelled further down the belt, and watching the process was... Almost hypnotizing in an odd way.

I didn't even realize we were stupidly staring until Gabumon spoke up, snapping me out of my stupor.

"What... In the world are they making?" Gabumon asked, eyeing one of the sewing machine-like objects as it passed by him.

"They look like... Sewing machines," Mimi commented from the other side of the conveyor belt with Palmon, moving to gingerly poke one with an extended finger before changing her mind and recoiling seconds after.

"Yeah, maybe it's best _not_ to touch the strange machinery," Yamato suggested with an almost indiscernible hint of sarcasm. He was standing right behind me from the sound of it, and due to the fact that he'd snuck up on me so easily, I jumped and put a little distance between us out of anxiety.

Yamato seemed to notice, and shot me a funny look in misunderstanding... Or maybe in complete understanding, considering I didn't like him to begin with anyways. Whatever it was worth, I shifted my gaze elsewhere to keep my mind from going sour.

"Are we going to explore?" TK thankfully interrupted, looking at both Yamato and I with a large grin.

"...Yeah. Most likely, TK," Yamato replied, a soft smile appearing on his face as he regarded his younger brother.

I'd stared at the machines on the conveyor belt for long enough, so I started walking over to Jojo again with Gomamon lazily snoozing in my arms. I could tell Yamato was leering at me again even though he was behind me- I mean it was _obviously_ him. Who else would have a reason for sending burning glares at my backside?

...Come to think of it, why _did_ Yamato dislike me so much anyways? I mean, I knew why _I_ disliked him, so what had I done for the reciprocation of those feelings? Did Yamato just really dislike that I didn't like him? Or maybe it was my personality that he disliked?

"This place is _huge_ , guys! There's no way that there aren't any humans in this factory!" Jojo exclaimed to the other kids when I approached him, letting my cousin have his moment of hope rather than correcting him and crushing his dreams.

"We could probably cover more ground if we split up into groups to look around the factory..." I heard Sora suggest as soon as I deposited Gomamon back into Jojo's arms. The aquatic digimon was still snoozing away despite the way Jojo gathered him into his arms clumsily, with the digimon's head lolling back against Jojo's arm like a doll.

"Uh, isn't that a _bad_ idea? Isn't that what you _aren't_ supposed to do in a situation like this?" Tai spoke up dubiously while I left the circle of our group to walk around the room and inspect the other mechanical processes in the area.

There was still that odd _thing_ I was sensing- hanging in the air like a curious smell I couldn't identify. It wasn't intensifying as I started moving towards the deeper areas of the factory, but it also wasn't as reactive as maybe a digimon or a gear might have been.

 _We should have... This place seems like a bad idea to explore blindly. I mean, look at all these mechanisms! They're dangerous! One wrong move and we could fall into them and get seriously hurt or... Or..._

My thoughts trail off when I register the situation at hand. I gape at the room I've managed to happen across, staring at the door for a second and then spinning around in all directions in confusion. Everyone is gone- I had spaced out and gotten separated by wandering off too far.

"Crap," I grumble, massaging my temples and starting my empathic search for the digimon. I could sense that in the time I'd accidentally wandered off, the group has- as promised- split up into groups of two.

The closest digimon are... Patamon, Palmon, Tentomon, and Gabumon. It's a no brainer that their respective partners would be with them, so I lean my back against the room door and cover my face with a groan. Great, Yamato isn't going to _hesitate_ to chew my head off for this. He already hates my gu-

The door swings open behind me and a small squeal flies out of my lips when I fall back into the room following the lost support.

"Marie!" I hear TK call out from afar as I attempt to pick myself off the ground and wince from the blossoming pain that erupted from the sustained bruises I'd gotten from Meramon.

"Ow..." I mutter, only to pause and freeze dead when I look up to see the room I'd landed in.

It was incredible.

 _Breath taking._

Lights in different patterns- unfamiliar and familiar symbols alike- floated around the empty space of the room, danging along the sides and edges of what looked to be maybe the world's largest battery to ever exist. Every bit of fluttering light makes up a symbol as I look closer, gaping in awe with my jaw slightly adjar.

 _What do those symbols stand for? Why are they just... floating around here? How are they-?_

"Marie? _Marie!"_

"Wake up, Marie, why do you have that funny expression on your face?" Palmon and Patamon are in front of me and once I've completely snapped out of my trance, I gather the willpower to look away from the lights and at my confused group mates.

 _"Ah!_ I-I'm so sorry! I didn't realize I'd wandered off! By the time I noticed... _Sorry..."_ I apologized profusely upon turning towards the humans of the group.

Mimi and Koushiro looked visibly startled for my apology, but Yamato just sighed and shook his head at me. Surprisingly, he didn't... actually look as mad as I assumed he would be. In fact, he didn't really look mad at all.

"Stay close, you know better than the rest of us that it's dangerous here," Yamato merely scolds me, looking around at the room I'd come across. Despite not looking angry, he still says the words as if everything I've been saying I've felt and sensed is just a joke.

It hurts...

But I refuse to let it get to me right now. With the digimon awake and around, they'll just crowd me and make a scene by trying to help me feel better. That's not what I want or need right now.

Thankfully, a good distraction makes itself known in a small bit of detail as TK steps up beside me to watch Mimi, Koushiro, and Yamato examine the room with their digimon partners at their sides.

 _None of them look surprised...?_

My eyes jump around at the glowing symbols of varying familiarity and then back at the three older kids searching around for clues of human influence or presence.

 _Can they not see it?_ I wonder in surprise.

"...TK? Patamon? Do you see anything... _Odd_ about this room?" I asked discreetly, making the duo turn to blink owlishly at me in confusion.

"Anything odd? Well... That's one big battery..." TK supplies, making me hum in agreement. It's not the thing I wanted him to point out though, so I press on.

"...See anything glowing? Like for instance... Floating lights?" I ask cautiously, hoping not to alarm the other six persons as I observe the symbols floating past me with the eyes of a hawk.

"...What do you mean?" Patamon inquires, landing on TK's head and staring at me eye to eye. At this point, I don't know how else to describe the anomaly, so I raise a hand and poke one of the symbols directly as it moves to pass me by.

"I mean like thi-" I cut myself off when my finger makes contact with the symbols, prompting a small shock of something that felt oddly like electricity to charge through my body. It was short, and lasted for half a second as the symbol stuck to my finger. Curiously enough I felt a lot better after touching it!

 _This is so weird,_ I think as I move my hand and watch the symbol follow as if now glued to the end of my finger. TK is gawking , eyes pasted to the tip of my index finger.

"What _is_ that?" He asks, surprising me when both he and Patamon are staring at the end of my finger with me. It's obvious they can see it now, but why only the one attached to my finger?

"Wha... You can see it now?" I question them in bewilderment, just before the symbol suddenly detaches form my skin and leaves me hanging as it floats away.

"Oh... It disappeared," Patamon states somberly, as if sad that it wasn't around to marvel at anymore... Even though I could see it continue to float upwards with several other symbols. I raise a brow at the two, but I already know that my confusion would persist since I was the only one apparently able to see the floating symbols.

"It's only one of many. I can see hundreds of them floating around the room," I explain smoothly and quietly to at least let TK and Patamon in on what I was experiencing. TK rightfully gasps in awe, but before he can turn to call out to the others and shout out what I had discovered, I grab his arm in a panic. "No, don't say anything, _please!"_

My friend blinks back at me in surprise with a small puzzled sound, but fully turns to face me so I can elaborate. "Why not?" He asks me, tilting his head slightly much like I sometimes did when confused.

Ah, I can see why Mimi thought it made me adorable now that TK was doing it to me...

"...None of them will believe me..." I murmur in embarrassment, clinging to his sleeve and staring down at his hanging hand somberly. Eventually, I gather the wits to finally release his arm and look up at him, giving the boy the option to either refuse and tell the others... Or to simply keep it between him and myself.

"...Alright! My lips are sealed, right, Patamon?" TK asks his partner with a smile, making the bat digimon nod in excitement and flutter over to hug me despite clearly not understanding why they weren't telling anyone about what I was seeing.

"Doesn't look like there's much here other than the battery and the motor... No people, just a power supply. Shall we move on then?" Yamato inquired, walking up to Koushiro while he examined the exterior of the battery curiously from end to end.

"Hmm... Actually, I think I'd like to take a closer look at this room. You guys feel free to go on ahead without me," Koushiro says almost absentmindedly, already completely engrossed with the object of his element- that being technology.

With that, Yamato sighs and begins to head towards the exit, Mimi, Palmon, Gabumon, TK, and Patamon following. After examining the floating symbols one last time and burning their image in my mind, I turn away to continue exploring the factory with the others.

I stop when Yamato steps directly in my path with crossed arms as he looks down at me. Again, he doesn't actually look like he's angry or annoyed, but I can already tell that he has a problem with me when he sighs heavily to himself.

"Marie, I think it would be best if you stayed here with Izzy," he states directly to me, not even asking whether I wanted to or not. Apparently without Jojo, Tai, or Sora around, that automatically made _him_ the boss since he was the oldest in the area compared to the rest of us.

Which really sucked for me, since he disliked me so much.

"Eh?" I ask in astonishment, even though I don't mean to question him out loud. I know better than to argue with my elders, but it just slips out on accident. His eyes narrow on me and I visibly shrink back a little because of the look. For a second I think I see his eyes soften a little, but the moment is fleeting.

This was like Jojo and the streetcar all over again! Only with _Yamato_ this time!

I can only recuperate with a small squeak of understanding, as attempting any type of verbal coherent reply would probably make me explode into a million pieces of anxiety.

"Mar-" Palmon steps over to me, as if sensing my discomfort, but before she can say anything to me, Mimi is marching around us to get in Yamato's face. I can tell that the other digimon in the current area are worried about me, so I plaster on a small fake smile and neutralize any negative emotions wafting off of me. Despite my attempts to hide my feelings though, Palmon takes my hand and offers me a comforting smile.

"What?! Why can't she come along?" Mimi surprisingly complains, obviously taking the news harder than I was. Mimi's back is to Palmon and I, but we can see Yamato visibly frown at her.

"If we encounter another digimon, it might try to attack her like Meramon and Shellmon did before," Yamato explained, but from the look on his face, I felt like that wasn't the entire story. I had this inkling that he also just didn't want me to get in the way of things.

...Like I was an annoyance. A burden to the group.

 _What, he thinks that the rest of them are better set to handle themselves just cause they have digimon partners and I don't? The digimon don't_ exist _to protect them, they just care about them enough to do so! Other than that, they're about as set to handle themselves as I am to handle my own safety!_

"Or _maybe_ they won't do anything to her! Seadramon didn't attack her, remember?!" Mimi objected, stamping her foot and refusing to back down despite the intimidating look on Yamato's face. How she stood there unwavering with the look he was giving her I may never know, but it made me respect the normally squealing cowgirl more than I did before.

"...She stays _here,"_ Yamato clarified with emphasis, glaring at Mimi as she returned the look. "End of discussion."

Before Mimi can start up again, I reach out and grab her hand to get her attention. If anyone can quell her anger, I think it's most likely me. "It's alright. I'll wait for you here, Mimi," I say to her calmly, causing Mimi to look at me and nod with a pout after a second of considering my words.

Yamato seems to notice and just stares down at me with an unreadable expression as I comfort Mimi. I don't wanna be left behind, but if Yamato was insisting and Jojo wasn't around... What was _I_ supposed to do about it?

Once Mimi seems set to get moving, Yamato turns and leaves the power supply. As he leaves, Mimi follows and sticks her tongue out at him while his back is turned.

Taking this as her own cue to leave, Palmon gives me one last smile before she releases my hand and jogs after her upset partner. Patamon, Gabumon, and TK follow, with the latter giving me a curious look and pausing before he follows the digimon out. TK looks like he wants to say something to me, but he just shakes his head and then mouths to me, _'later'._

 _He wants to talk about Ma- I mean, Yamato 'later', doesn't he?_ I think to myself, sighing heavily and tugging my backpack off of my shoulders. I place the red pack on the ground near a wall, which I promptly lean against before sliding my back down into a seated position. Without much to do, I watch floating symbols travel across the room with little interest, my eyes flicking towards Koushiro every now and then to see how he is doing.

Koushiro is still circling around the giant battery, patting its exterior and muttering to himself. The sight of Koushiro being as much of a nerd as I sometimes was made me giggle a little, but didn't do enough to fully wash away the hurt of not being listened to. The hurt of being left behind. The hurt of being a burden... I didn't want to believe it, but it was most likely true... I probably was just getting in the way of things by being here.

 _I never should have let my aunt talk me into going to camp with Jojo..._ I bury my face in my arms and pull my knees up to my chest. I hate feeling like this- whining and feeling sorry for myself wasn't going to get me anywhere.

"Marie-han."

I snap out of my blue daydreams and pull my head out from under my arms, offering Tentomon my best smile when he walks over to me. His face can't really emote or display his feelings, but I can sense that he felt my fluster of emotions and my agitation with Yamato.

"Hi, Tentomon," I greet the digimon anyways, ready for him to ask me everyone's favorite question when speaking to me.

"...Are you well?" He decides to start off with, before he pauses and then touches his chin with a limb in thought. "No, wait. You get that one too often... Scratch that."

I blink in surprise as he taps his foot, assuming a pondering position with his eyes facing up towards the ceiling.

"... How is your current state of mind and how hungry are you?" Tentomon revised after a second, before his ridiculous statement makes me raise a brow at him in question. Did he just ask me how hungry I was...?

In a moment, I can't help but burst out laughing as the question continues to repeat over and over in my brain. What _was_ that? It didn't even make _sense_ to ask me if I was hungry!

Regardless, I continue to laugh until I can laugh no longer. My mood has greatly improved and I can tell that the other digimon- even though they're far away- have noticed it when I sense their jolly emotions running straight back in my direction.

Catching my breath, I look back at Tentomon and reach for him, pulling the digimon into a comforting hug.

"Thank you. I feel much better," I say with a grin, hearing Tentomon chuckle in clear embarrassment. "You're a little genius!"

"It was no problem, Marie-han!" He replies as I release him to stand up and observe the floating symbols again. "As long as you feel better, I don't mind anything to help you."

His words are so sweet I could get a cavity, but before I can give a reply, the third person in the room speaks when he finally notices my remained presence.

"Marie? You're still here? Why didn't you go with Matt and the others?" Koushiro asks, turning away from the battery to face Tentomon and I. Poor kid... Getting so lost in his own little world to the point that reality begins to fade away.

"Yamato said it would be best for her to stay here in case they ran into another digimon like Meramon," Tentomon speaks in my place. The digimon clearly understood that Yamato's orders made me upset, so he stepped in to save me from the stress of having to repeat it.

Koushiro raises his eyebrows in surprise at this and he looks like he finds it weird. "Here? With only the two of us? I think you'd have been safer with them since they have a bigger party... Well, if that's how he feels, then we'll do our best to take care of you in the meantime," he rationalizes half to himself and half to us, eyes shifting around at everything else... Except me.

I cock my head slightly to the side in curiosity, observing how he turns quickly to continue looking at the battery with interest. It's almost likes he's nervous or something. Kind of like the way I act around... Yamato.

...Do _I_ intimidate Koushiro? Hmm... Well, considering I made no attempts to hide my irritation with him every time I felt like he wronged me, it was a possibility.

In the midst of gathering the courage to confront him about it, I notice something odd on the battery's exterior to the left of the computer kid. I take a couple of hasty steps closer, noting the way Koushiro turned when he caught my movement out of the corner of his eye and promptly stiffened up when he found me near.

Instead of him being the point of interest though, it was really the glowing symbols that had once again caught my attention. They were doing something rather strange to the battery, many of the characters going through small cracks in the battery. Tons were squeezing into what appeared to be cracks that made up the shape of a vertical rectangle; a door shaped rectangle.

I reach for the edge and pull, feeling the metal wobble enough to let me know that it really _was_ an entry way. My fingers barely can squeeze through the cracks, so I have to use my nails to get it to move out enough to grab it with my actual finger pads.

Koushiro soon notices the door shape as well and seems to throw away any other anxious tendencies around me to grab the edge of the door with me and assist in propping the metallic rectangle open. Eventually, it swings open and the two of us fall back when our weight on pulling makes us lose our balance.

"Hey, are you two okay?!" Tentomon asks us worriedly as we pick ourselves up from where we'd landed, Koushiro dusting his shorts off and looking over at Tentomon and I.

"I'm fine. Marie?" Koushiro asks, though all I do is shrug at him and move to walk towards the new entrance I'd found. I can see Koushiro slouch and face palm behind me in despondence via the reflective battery exterior, but I say nothing and just sort of roll my eyes. Tentomon pats the kids back with an arm as a show of comfort, whispering something that I can't quite hear.

If it's advice on how to gain my approval, I'm sure it won't work. I just don't like him! He can't fix it- not even with _Tentomon's_ help.

I looked around inside the battery once I pass the doorway, where everything is surprisingly as lit up as the rest of the factory outside of the room was. I'm not sure if Tentomon and Koushiro can see what I'm currently seeing as they follow me into the battery room, but for the most part I'm positive that the interior of the battery is curious enough even without being able to see the glowing symbols that swarmed around inside.

Every glowing character in the room finds its way to a matching blue, red, or black character on the inner walls of the battery, overlaying them several times over in succession like a never ending keypress of a typewriter letter on a paper that never shifts left or right.

"What is this?" Tentomon boldly asks between Koushiro and I.

"...I think this is a computer program...!" Koushiro answers, peering carefully at every symbol his eyes landed on. I give him a look of confusion, wondering how the heck he'd gotten to that conclusion without much context or evidence to go by.

"How can you tell? These symbols are nothing like the programming symbols _I've_ seen..." I speak up, making Koushiro suddenly blink at me in mild surprise. I cock my head a little to the side again at his expression.

"Marie-han is puzzled by your surprised look," Tentomon easily reads me, snapping Koushiro out of whatever stupor has befallen him.

"Oh, sorry! It's just I didn't realize you liked computers or programming like me," Koushiro says brightly, like _just_ cause we had something in common, it meant that I would no longer find him annoying and I'd forgive him for his sneaky, mean agenda.

He must realize I'm still irritated with him (or maybe I was glaring at him?), because he soon diverts his gaze swiftly back to the symbols on the wall straight ahead of the doorway with a nervous smile. I really _do_ intimidate him...!

"Do you see these two symbols at the top left and at the bottom right of this box?" Koushiro asks, though he doesn't turn to look at me again despite my blue eyes narrowing on the back of his head.

I look at the symbols he's referring to and make a hum of confirmation, but as my focus lands on them and my brain recognizes the pattern that he's managed to notice before me, my mouth pops open into a small 'oh' of realization. Noticing the dots connecting out the corner of his eye, Koushiro smiles at the wall.

 _"Oh,_ they're closing tags! Like the kinds I've seen in HTML language!" I say, while poor Tentomon looks from me to Koushiro and back in clear confusion. The digimon probably has no idea what the heck we're talking about...

"Mm-hmm... And look at these ones behind the door. They're in the English alphabet and number system. Some of the characters here aren't familiar, but if we study them enough, I'm sure we can solve what they mean together!" Koushiro continues, straightening up and grinning as he takes in all the symbols around.

 _Together?_ That word catches my attention. I can't help but feel a little accepted and appreciated- unlike the way the other older kids (Except for Jojo, of course) would brush me off.

Koushiro stares pensively at the wall, while I stand on the side with Tentomon and watch the kid begin to get sucked into his own little world again.

"...Marie-han, are you still bothered by Koushiro-han?" Tentomon asks now that I'm no longer speaking in computer language with Koushiro. I glance down at him, raising a single brow in question for him to elaborate. "I mean, you seem like you maybe... Like him a little. I'm hoping you can give him a chance to show you that he can be a good friend."

I bite my lip and look back over at Koushiro.

 _...Solving the characters... Together,_ I repeat to myself in my head, staring at the red head's back.

...

That's when I sensed _it._

I flinch violently and spin around the room to search where it comes from. It seems like it's coming from the same area that Agumon, Piyomon, and Gomamon are at. Where Tai, Sora, and Jojo are exploring...!

"M-Marie-han?!" Tentomon seems to be panicking as much as I am, so I forcibly calm myself enough to keep from scaring any of the digimon around.

At that point, I sense that Agumon, Piyomon, and Gomamon have completely gone from how I first found them- upbeat, excited, and tranquil- to completely guarded and focused. Tentomon still looks at me in confusion, clearly 'listening' to my emotions and waiting for something to make sense to him.

"...I can sense a strong digimon and a gear," I finally explain after a second, touching my forehead to the mild wave of pain that had washed over me upon the gear's sudden presence.

Tentomon hobbles over to Koushiro, who hasn't noticed anything odd between Tentomon and I. His laptop has been turned on and he hastily types away on it, blissfully unaware of what was probably happening with Jojo, Sora, Tai, and their digimon partners.

While Tentomon attempts to explain things to Koushiro, a sharp pain forms at my right shin, like the time when Meramon had gotten infected with that black gear back near the Pyocomon Village. The intensity of my headache and the pain rolling over me isn't as strong as it was when I first encountered Meramon and his gear... So I assume I'm getting used to it now, which is pretty unsettling in itself.

The digimon I sense... At first, I wasn't sure whether it was hostile or not, but as the pain starts to settle down, I feel a strong hostility emanating from it that alarms me. It alarms me more than when I sensed that Meramon was going to attack me. This digimon is at a different level than Meramon- stronger than even Greymon, Garurumon, and Birdramon!

I think I'm panicking again, and I freeze.

...

 **The hostile digimon has noticed me.**

 _Oh no...!_

* * *

 ** _End of Chapter 10_**


	11. Ch 11: Factory Freak Out

**Chapter 11**

* * *

 ***Marie's P.O.V.***

With a grunt, I nearly buckle over onto one knee due to the throbbing pain in my right shin, however, I manage to muster enough strength to stay on my feet and bolt for the door while Tentomon talks to Koushiro. I want to try and hide my escape from the hostile digimon I sense, but with the massive anxiety input the strange digimon instills in me, I panic and bolt off out of the room without a measly attempt to hide my escape from even Tentomon or Koushiro.

Considering this strange digimon's level of strength though, I can already tell that my attempts would be futile. It would see right through my veil- and even if I could hide my emotions, that doesn't conceal my whereabouts at all. For the most part, I'm pretty much a beacon for attention whether I want to be or not.

"M-Marie-han, wait! Don't go!" I hear Tentomon call out as soon as he realizes I've been spooked out the door. I don't look back, catching the hostile digimon's location and running in the opposite direction of it and the rest of my companions to keep them from getting in the crossfire. None of us stand a chance against a digimon as powerful as this one, but maybe if I lead the hostile digimon away, something good will come out of it. How I would get _myself_ out of this mess though...?

 _Don't be scared, you've got this!_ I attempt to reassure myself as I race deeper into the factory, away from danger as well as safety.

* * *

 ***3rd Person P.O.V.***

Gabumon stops in his tracks along with Patamon and Palmon, the latter of the three gasping loudly and catching their partner's attention.

"Huh? Palmon? What's wrong?" Mimi asks first when Palmon grabs at her petals in panic.

"Something is wrong! Marie is panicking!" Palmon informs her partner, reaching to hold Mimi's hand with a look of worry etched across her face. "I think she's in trouble...!"

Gabumon whirls around to look at his own partner, ready to say whatever necessary to get him to listen despite his skepticism on the matter of Marie. "Yamato! Marie has sensed a hostile source somewhere in the factory, I'm sure of it! Please, trust me! Something bad is happening! We need to get back to her!" Gabumon says seriously, hoping that Matt would comply. "Even if you don't believe what we do- please, don't risk this! We..."

The digimon freeze again. This time for a moment longer than before.

"Patamon? W-what is it? Is Marie okay?" TK asks nervously, hands fidgeting as he waited for an answer.

...

"Marie is running," Patamon answers, fluttering down to sit on his partner's head when flying seems to be too much for his stressed state.

Matt, who would rather not worry about Marie and instead continue exploring and finding a human like Joe proposed, eventually caves when the digimon, Mimi, and TK give him bold looks that pretty much shut down any nodes of objection from the oldest of their trio. Matt grimaces and sighs in resignation.

"Alright, lead the way then," Matt replies reluctantly, allowing the digimon to take up the front of the group as they make their way to wherever they suspect Marie is.

* * *

"H-hey! What's the big idea?!" Sora shouts in shock when her world is promptly flipped upside-down, a hand of a large size gripped tightly around her ankle in a painful vice grip. She dangles uncomfortably like a pendulum, one hand keeping her hat from falling as she tries to kick at the metallic digimon hand with her other foot in hopes of freedom.

This doesn't seem to faze the robotic digimon known as Andromon, a digimon described to be _good,_ yet displaying questionable mannerisms and behaviors as it swings Sora around. Piyomon immediately gets defensive and makes the first attack when Sora yips in pain.

"Magical Fire!" She shouts, sending a swirl of green flames spiraling into Andromon's back in hopes of maybe searing the metal enough to melt it. Piyomon doesn't even get a _flinch_ out of the metallic digimon, who retaliates by swinging her partner around and sending Sora flying in Tai and Agumon's direction. "S-Sora!"

Tai and Agumon fumble to catch the tangy haired girl, but are sent falling back with her across their stomachs despite their attempts to keep upright in the midst of the dangerous digimon. Joe and Gomamon, standing anxiously behind Andromon, watch baffled as the digimon goes for their friends.

"I thought you said he was a _good_ digimon!" Joe shouts at Gomamon, panicking as Andromon rolls his left metal shoulder with a creaking, metallic pop.

"W-well, he's _supposed_ to be...!" Gomamon sputters out, just as gob smacked as his partner is.

"THEN _WHY?!"_ Joe asks horrified, pointing at Andromon's back in distraught as Andromon moves to close the distance between himself, Tai, Sora, Agumon, and Piyomon.

Agumon and Piyomon assert themselves in front of Tai and Sora as Andromon draws in closer, raising an arm as if to hit the quartet. Piyomon is trying to be brave, but even she can't help the fearful whimpers slipping past her beak. She's not afraid for _herself_ though. Nor is Agumon or Gomamon.

They're afraid for their fragile human partners.

 _I... I won't back down..._ Piyomon reassures herself over and over again, trying to resist the natural temptation of self preservation for her physical embodiment. Her legs tremble, wanting to get running as far away from Andromon as possible.

Her heart steels her for the worst.

It's while Piyomon awaits Andromon's next attack that Tai suddenly spots something useful in the environment, hanging right over a space above Andromon's path towards them. He blinks at it a little until an idea forms around the structure, leaving him to silently return his gaze back towards Andromon patiently to wait for him to get closer.

Keeping Andromon's speed and his distance from them in mind, Tai pensively watches... And his eyes flash with purpose when he sees the window of his opportunity.

"Agumon! Aim for the ceiling, _now!"_ Tai blurts out, and Agumon, who seems to have picked up on his partner's plotting already, grins in excitement before sending a swift _"Baby Flame"_ up at the dangling beams now hovering above Andromon.

Sora and Joe gasp in unison as the heavy beams collapse upon the supposedly "good" digimon known as Andromon, metal pieces clanking and visibly denting both the beams and the parts of the hostile digimon as they hit him. Just like that, Andromon is sent down flat on the ground once more, buried under the structures like scrap metal. At his predicament, the robotic digimon lets out a guttural growl of displeasure, prompting the children to back away nervously.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Tai snaps out of his daze, having to clap a hand against the side of Joe's face a little when Sora hurries past their blue haired friend's petrified form. "Snap out of it Joe, we have to get moving!"

Joe shakes the unease from himself and fixes his glasses quickly, scooping Gomamon up in a single fluid motion and following Tai despite where his thoughts have ended. It's impossible for him to _not_ imagine his little cousin getting cornered by such a dangerous digimon, and it makes his skin crawl.

 _I hope Marie is somewhere safe..._ He thinks to himself as he glances back at the digimon behind them, getting a clear view of Andromon as he finishes pushing the beams off of his back and is now hauling himself back onto his feet. Joe takes the tail end of the trio and their digimon, save for Gomamon in his arms, so he can't help but feel extremely vulnerable when his eyes meet fleetingly with the uncanny human-like eyes of the metallic digimon as he turns out of the room and tries to keep close to Tai, Agumon, Sora, and Piyomon.

The digimon follows with heavy, mechanical-whirring footsteps that shake the hall as the kids rush to put more distance between them. Meanwhile, Joe continues to look back to see how far Andromon is from them, watching the digimon turn out of the room to take a step after the kids... Until his eyes once again meet with Joe's fearful irises.

Something twists uncomfortably in Joe's stomach when Andromon stops moving, staring Joe dead in the eye silently and prompting the eldest of the kids to halt in his tracks when he notices the flash of realization in Andromon's lifeless doll-like eyes.

 _...Don't tell me...!_ Joe thinks anxiously, hearing Sora and Tai shout back at him from the distance that has accumulated between them after the blue haired eleven-year-old has stopped to stare at the hostile digimon.

As soon as Joe thinks it, his stomach twists even harder and blossoms with nausea. In the pit of his gut he already knows it.

 **Andromon noticed Marie.**

"G-Gomamon, where's Marie?" Joe barely gets his words out in a whisper, much too shocked to move back in case Andromon tries to attack them. His fingers and palms are beginning to break out in a sweat, and his heart speeds up as he keeps his gaze on Andromon, refraining from blinking too much if only to make sure that the digimon doesn't suddenly bolt in the direction of wherever Marie is.

Gomamon is silent, staring at Andromon with an even more petrified expression when he finally starts to pay attention to the array of another's emotions his own feelings have turned to fuzzy white noise in the process of trying to figure out how to deal with Andromon and protect Joe. He was so busy freaking out himself that he didn't notice... At least not until now that Joe has asked.

 _"Gomamon,"_ Joe repeats louder, heart starting to pound harder. He doesn't like the apprehensive tension in Gomamon's muscles. It's a sign that he's about to get unfavorable news- more so since it regards his beloved cousin.

"...Marie... Marie is panicking. I think she's running in the opposite direction from us," Agumon speaks up from behind Joe and Gomamon, though Joe isn't sure whether he stopped with them or if he had returned upon noting their vulnerability against Andromon by themselves. "I think she noticed Andromon too."

Joe refuses to take his gaze off of Andromon, Agumon moving beside him with Tai, Sora, and Piyomon now closely knit among them. The gold lizard digimon trembles under the hostile digimon's gaze, but he refuses to lose the dangerous look in his eyes as he dares Andromon to turn and head in Marie's direction.

Tension builds between them...

And Andromon turns around to give his back to his original six targets.

Almost as if possessed, Agumon mindlessly bolts forward past the others, surprising Tai out of his anxiety over the idea of Andromon _actually_ going after Marie.

 _"Agumon-!"_ Tai blurts out, both bewildered and afraid for the actions of his partner as Agumon closes in on Andromon and glares at his foe's back.

 _"Stay away from Marie!_ BABY FLAME!" Agumon practically snarls, sending a larger than normal blast of fire at Andromon that no longer looks like a "baby flame" but a roaring flamethrower that threatens to melt all in its enraged path.

It reaches its destination, steaming Andromon's mechanical components on the back considerably enough to turn the sleek metal brown and black. Despite contact being made, Andromon doesn't even turn around to regard Agumon's assault, continuing on his way as if nothing has happened.

Agumon and the kids deflate and gape with discouragement, but it doesn't seem like _all_ are about to give up entirely when Gomamon pounces from Joe's arms and Piyomon lunges forward to join Agumon in the fight to stop Andromon's mission.

 _"Dash Tsuibami!"_

 _"Sharp Edge!"_

Piyomon attempts throwing herself forward with her beak lighting up to peck at the back of Andromon's head like a drill, Gomamon following suit when he jumps up towards the same general point of attack as Piyomon to deliver repeated slashes with his elongated flipper claws. Both attacks look deadly- enough to kill anyone without armor, such as a human.

But in Andromon's case, they have little to no effect. The larger digimon continues to walk away as the two rookie digimon land on their feet behind him with expressions of agony as they struggle to catch their breaths.

"This is pointless! Our attacks aren't working!" Piyomon barely manages, close to tears at the thought of being unable to protect Marie. They'd advance if they could, but due to the confines of the factory hallway, it would be impractical and only make them a bigger target due to the sizes of Greymon and Birdramon.

Agumon zooms past Piyomon, expression set in a solid look of pure determination as he faces Andromon's back again. "I'm not giving up!" The gold dinosaur digimon announces, slashing his claws once more at the metallic digimon and finally making him stop and turn his head to acknowledge the three rookie digimon behind him.

"Resistance is futile. _I will end the universal,"_ Andromon drones with a deep, robotic voice before looking back forward and continuing ahead.

"'The universal'? What's that supposed to mean...?!" Sora asks out loud, staring at Andromon's back in frustration with Joe and Tai.

The lights suddenly flicker off from where they stand, plunging the six in darkness and making Andromon vanish from sight when they are left trying to adjust to the lack of sufficient lighting. Confused yet still aggravated over the metallic digimon's intent to hurt Marie, the kids don't think much of it at that moment until their night-vision kicks in with the few blinking lights on a handful of mechanisms that use external power sources.

Tai growls beside Sora. "It doesn't matter right now. We need to find Marie before _he_ does!" The brown haired boy exclaims as he looks to Agumon, who meets Tai's gaze hopefully when he notices that familiar glint of an idea forming behind his partner's brown eyes. "Agumon, can you lead us to Marie using an alternate path?"

"Y-yeah! Of course I can!" Agumon answers in excitement, hope forming inside of him.

"Lead the way then!" Tai replies, prompting Agumon to start jogging down a separate corridor with the others following close behind him.

"Do you know where she is exactly?" Sora inquires to her own pink feathered partner, jogging beside Joe after he picks up Gomamon again despite the aquatic digimon's grouchy complaints of 'you don't hold me like Marie does'.

"She's heading in the opposite direction of us. It's not where Matt's group said they were heading towards either..." Piyomon explains, prompting Sora to frown in confusion. Does that mean she hasn't met up with either group since she wandered off? Does it mean she's all by herself?!

Joe clenches his jaw at Piyomon's words.

 _Why?_ Joe wonders, grimacing in thought. _Why would Andromon choose to ignore us over Marie? Meramon said that Marie would be a target for danger due to her empathic abilities among the digimon, but to_ this _degree? More importantly, why is Marie being targeted_ at all? _Do some digimon just not like having their emotions read so easily by her? And what do the black gears have to do with things? Why did Meramon only attack her when the gear was supposedly "taking over" his body? Does that mean Andromon has a black gear embedded inside of him too? It would explain his behavior contrasting what Gomamon had claimed..._

Joe could feel that uncomfortable twisting of his stomach at the memory of his fear when Meramon had snatched Marie away from him.

 _Don't worry, Marie! Cousin Jojo is going to protect you_ no matter what.

* * *

 ***Marie's P.O.V.***

My breathing pace has risen to an all-time high that I seem to have grown familiar with so far in my time here with digimon, and I can't help but stop to catch my breath for a second. There's not much time to relax, but after a minute or two, I scan the factory with my empathic senses and search for all the digimon.

I immediately sense the geared digimon right off the bat, slowly making his way in my direction from the other end of the factory, moving at a casual pace as if he has all the time in the world to get to me. Close by him, I sense Agumon, Gomamon, and Piyomon along a different path, moving much faster than the hostile digimon with a similar set direction in mind: _my_ direction.

And coming from a complete separate direction, I sense Gabumon, Patamon, and Palmon also heading my way. No doubt that the kids are with them, but why are they all heading towards me? Is my panic _that_ overwhelming that it makes the digimon want to come to my aid?

...

I whimper a little when the lights suddenly flicker off, making me shiver when I have to wait and let my eyes adapt to the limited sources of light in the darkness. As soon as I can somewhat make out things in the glowing lights of the mechanisms around, I let out a breath of relief and go to start running again until I notice something about my previous empathetic searching that makes me halt again.

Where's Tentomon?

I scan the general area of the other two groups and the battery room I'd previously left them at, but don't sense Tentomon's familiar presence, prompting my heart to jerk painfully. Oh no... Tentomon's okay, right? The hostile digimon didn't get to him, did he?

I tune in to scan the entire factory this time, which turns out to take a lot more effort that I think it would. My head throbs as I search every nook and cranny near and far... Until I find an eighth digimon and relax when I familiarize it to be Tentomon...

...Who is now approaching my location from the junction behind me?

I turn around to look at one of the dark corridors behind me, just in time for two figures to emerge from the shadows and come to a stop when they find me standing in their path.

"You run... _Really_ fast...!" Koushiro barely manages to say through the gasps of air he inhales, body shivering from his exertion as he takes a seat on the ground and sighs in relief at his moment for rest.

"Koushiro? Tentomon? You _followed_ me?" I ask in disbelief, watching as Tentomon suddenly moves forward to get in front of me. I assume that it's also just in case I'm still irritated with Koushiro.

"M-Marie-han! You need to calm down! If you run around so recklessly in a place like this, you'll get hurt!" Tentomon says anxiously, clearly worried that I'd turn and dash away again.

 _Why did they follow me? I don't want them to be close to me- that's_ why _I ran away in the first place! What if they get hurt for following me?_

I reluctantly take a deep breath and relax myself before Koushiro recovers enough to find me staring at him patiently for an answer to my previous question. Once he notices my pointed stare, he flinches and looks away to twiddle with his gloves.

"Oh... Uh, I followed you because Matt's counting on me to keep you safe. A-also, I don't want anything bad to happen to you on my watch," Koushiro finally answers, resulting in my stare to soften at his words.

 _I don't want anything bad to happen to you on my watch._

...

"The digimon I sensed is heading in _my_ direction, so let's keep moving," I say, reaching out to take hold of Koushiro's left wrist so I can drag him along. The funny expression of confusion and pleasant surprise is immediate from the red-haired computer whiz-kid, who follows wordlessly when I begin walking in the opposite direction of the perpetrator and the other digimon heading our way.

"It knows where you are?!" Tentomon inquires in shock, fidgeting beside Koushiro and I before scratching at his head with his limbs. "Not good, this is bad...! Is that why you panicked and ran away from us?"

I give Tentomon a grimace and avert my gaze.

"Half of it... I sense the hostile digimon is on a higher level than Greymon and Birdramon," I explain, causing Tentomon to share a look of worry with Koushiro as they take in what I'm relaying to them.

"Are you sure?" Koushiro asks, to which I nod with a noise of confirmation.

"I haven't been wrong yet..." I add somberly, prompting Koushiro to shift his wrist in my grip so that he is comfortably holding my hand instead of having his wrist abused by my bone-dislodging pulling.

"We'll find a way around this, don't worry," he tries to comfort me, but I just wordlessly squeeze his hand in return as a way of showing my gratitude for his attempts.

I don't know why at first, but when I start tuning in to our digimon friends' emotions, I notice how slightly happy-go-lucky Tentomon suddenly gets following our conversation. He is still very nervous regarding the dangerous digimon lurking the factory corridors, but I still catch his enthusiasm like a neon sign in a dark alley. While most of the other digimon are slightly fearful, Tentomon is more so delighted and nervous than actually scared.

It takes a second, but eventually, I realize it's because I'm not trying to ignore Koushiro like I usually do- with a bonus that I'm physically holding his partner's hand as if we're friends. Once I make the connection in my head, I let go of Koushiro's hand quickly and keep walking, refraining from making eye contact with the red haired boy when I notice him glance quickly at me from the corner of his eye with a quiet exhale of resignation.

 _I don't need to hold his hand the entire walk through this factory... I'm trying to be independent- and he's older than me anyways. I don't need to hold_ his _hand and he doesn't need to hold_ my _hand. Simple as that._

I can see Tentomon deflate with comical disappointment from Koushiro's other side, garnering a small smile of amusement from Koushiro when he notices. What is that digimon depressed about? If it's worth anything, at least I dislike Koushiro a bit less than I did before. Tentomon really has no reason to complain at all.

"Marie!" A voice calls out, making Koushiro, Tentomon, and I share looks when we recognize the high-pitched squeal of relief coming from the other end of the dark hall.

"Mimi!" We call back, jogging forward to meet up with them.

 _BAM!_

My body slams face first into a chest that I don't see coming at all, and rather than sending us both falling due to the speed of my run, they easily support my weight by catching me by my waist.

Next to me, I hear Mimi cooing in delight. "Oh, Marie! I missed you so much! I got so worried when Palmon said you were having a panic attack, so we came running! It's okay now, dear sweet Mimi won't let you go anymore!" She says whole-heartedly, until someone clears their voice near me.

"Um... Mimi, that's Izzy you're strangling..." I hear TK say with an awkward laugh when I turn my head to see Mimi pushing Koushiro's body back in surprise, watching the red haired boy take generous gasps of air once she has released him from her deadly, loving hug. I can't help but sigh in relief when I realize I've dodged a bullet.

"Oh, whoopsies!" She says with an embarrassed giggle, pushing Koushiro away from her while I look up to see who had caught me, if not Mimi.

My eyes meet with Yamato's curious gaze, but before I can rip myself away from him like I usually did due to his intimidation, a new voice makes itself known in the darkness.

"Spiral..."

My eyes widen and I look back with the others silently. It's too dark to make anything definitive out of the other end of the hall, but since the voice is unrecognizable, Yamato and Mimi rush all of us and the digimon towards a fork in the path leading towards the left. We veer out of the way just in time too.

 _"Sword!"_

There is a momentary flash of light from sparking mechanisms as something makes devastating contact with machinery, sending hot sparks flying behind us as we hurry down the new corridor. Mimi and Koushiro both cry out behind me when they don't get far enough and the sparks bite into their skin.

 _What digimon is it?_ I wonder as I follow behind Yamato and TK, With Gabumon and Patamon watching ahead for any more danger if there is any. Behind me, since I take up the middle of the group, is Koushiro, Tentomon, Mimi, and Palmon, the digimon taking the tail end of the group so that us kids are sandwiched safely between them. I just have to wonder how safe we _truly_ are, considering the digimon's level in comparison to the level of our companion digimon.

It's while we are running that we eventually come into a dark and spacious room that is lit only by the glowing green and red lights of mechanisms, which some blink in and out of power in rhythm with the energy running in them. My nerves are going haywire with unease as I'm dragged along by Yamato, who seems to refuse to let go of both TK's wrist and my wrist now that I have rejoined the group.

"Careful, everyone, we're getting on a bridge and it's not very stable!" Gabumon announces to us from the front. As we run, I can already feel the thin metal of the bridge under my feet as we begin crossing it, trying my best to ignore the ominous mood of the room as we scurry through the green and red lit darkness.

I cringe at the way the metal bends beneath us, as if it's prone to giving away under our feet with one wrong movement. This _has_ to be the worst thing we could stumble across, as I can't even see anything past the darkness of the two levels beneath us. I'm actually kind of surprised that I hadn't noticed I'd gone up two stories in the factory, but decide it was probably due to my panic that I didn't take note of it before.

"Spiral..." Not again!

"Koushiro-han, watch out! _Petite Thunder!"_ I hear Tentomon shout, just as the sound of electricity cracks in the air and light flashes from behind us. The hostile digimon seems to halt his attack for some reason, though I really hope that it's cause Tentomon's attack had an effect on him. Somehow my gut is doubtful, considering how much power I can feel emanating from the other digimon.

 _"Poison Ivy!"_ Palmon has joined the fray, causing Yamato to stop in his tracks and finally release both TK and I so he can help the two in the back.

"Gabumon!" He says, prompting the blue furred digimon to make a noise of confirmation as they break away from TK, Patamon, and I to help Palmon and Tentomon.

I can barely make out what's going on, the environment far too badly lit to see anything except the kids in front of me as they try to push TK and I in the far back. Surprise and pain blossoms in my senses- causing my expression to fall with worry when I realize it's coming from Tentomon. Next thing I know, Koushiro is shouting in panic and two bodies fly back into me hard enough to put a few feet of distance between the other kids and I.

I try to stabilize us on our feet, but unfortunately fall back under the combined weight of Tentomon and Koushiro, who both scramble off of me when they take note of what has happened. "Marie, are you oka-?!" Koushiro begins to ask, until we hear the sound of metal shifting loudly from where we've been thrown from.

 _"Spiral Sword!"_ The digimon says it faster this time, and when the bridge suddenly creaks in objection, I realize my worst fears come true. I hear the sound of metal clashing with metal and when the bridge drops from the space between us and Yamato's group, Koushiro and I grab at the bars on either side of the bridge desperately to keep from falling. The bridge jerks to a stop at an uncomfortable angle, leaving Koushiro and I dangling at the ends of the metal structure. I try to pull myself back up on the bridge to no avail, while Tentomon hovers beside us in panic and flies back up to probably get help from one of the other digimon- most likely Palmon.

"Izzy! Marie!" I hear Mimi call out, just before I can make out her form at the broken end of the other bridge that is now above us. Did that digimon cut the bridge in the middle?! With one attack?!

"We're okay! S-sort of!" I hear Koushiro say from my left, clinging to the bridge with much effort. "We can't get back up though!"

"Don't worry! I'll just-!" Palmon calls out after Mimi, until I feel our end of the bridge suddenly jerk again- as if something heavy is landing on it. The sound of metal has Palmon cutting herself off with a gasp. "No, _don't!"_

At that point, I notice two things as I dangle beside Koushiro and think about something to do. I search around below us with my empathic senses, hoping for some kind of reassurance despite that it's impossible to figure anything out without a digimon being down there for me to make a connection with.

The first thing I notice, is that my hands are slipping and that it's no doubt the hostile digimon that has landed on our end of the cut bridge. The second thing...

"Koushiro," I say, looking to the red haired kid beside me and watching as he brings his eyes to meet mine nervously. Even in the current situation, he still looks intimidated by me.

I hold eye contact with him as I relax my muscles...

And let go of the bridge.

His eyes widen as he watches me fall, but just as I'm starting to get too far, he too lets go and drops down after me. I feel sort of warm at the thought that he _actually_ trusted me enough to let go of the bridge with me, and just as my body begins to turn so that I'm falling head first towards whatever was below, I squeeze my eyes shut and hope for the best.

 _"Agumon!"_ I call out, hoping to grab the attention of the digimon I had managed to spot somewhere beneath us.

 _"There she is!_ Marie, I'll catch you~!" I hear Agumon's ecstatic tone of bliss as I near them, only to hear varied loud grunts and complaints before-

"Oof!" I hear a grunt when I crash land against someone's body, with Koushiro yelping as soon as he lands next to me on the heaping pile of bodies, prompting the two of us to get back on our feet quickly while Tentomon appears from above, looking down at the predicament before us.

"Oh, thank _goodness!_ A human and digimon pillow! Great idea to break their fall!" Tentomon chirps in relief, while Tai groans over Joe and looks up at Sora and Agumon as they struggle to crawl off of his own back.

"That actually wasn't what we were going for..." Sora says as she straightens and cracks her back, Piyomon squirming out from under Joe and scurrying up to me with Agumon once they take note of my presence.

"Marie~! You're okay!" Agumon trills, hugging my side happily while Piyomon takes up my other side to nuzzle me with her feathers and purr contently.

"Guys, I hate to be the one to ruin this really, _really_ nice moment..." Tai starts with a huff as he hauls himself onto his feet and yanks my favorite cousin up after him- who adjusts his crooked glasses and gets off of the most unfortunate one of all- Gomamon, who looks like he has had the wonderful experience of becoming a pancake under the bunch of us. "But why did you two just appear _out of nowhere_ from above us?!"

Koushiro and I share a look of horror with Tentomon, the good mood dissipating instantly as we look back at our friends.

"Run," the three of us say in unison, causing the other six to give us looks of confusion.

"R-run...?" Sora asks nervously, the first one to eventually realize what we are referring to when we hear heavy metal landing somewhere on the ground behind us.

"RUN!" We all agree, running towards a new path as I look back one more time at the bridge above us where we have left Mimi and the two brothers with their digimon.

Well, at least they're out of danger for now.

 _"Lightning Edge!"_ A voice shouts behind us, and before we can pass under the exit to the massive room and it's connected three stories above, the sound of electricity sparking behind us and the large metallic door slamming down to cover the exit has us stopping in our tracks.

"Oh, crap, crap, _crap..."_ Tai repeats as he reaches over to grab my hand and pull me behind him and Joe. I hate the way my heart jerks in delight at the motion considering the situation, but hold his hand back when he doesn't let go. Better than holding _Yamato's_ hand- that's for sure.

The hostile digimon's silhouette appears by the sparking machinery that I'm sure is the mechanism to open the door, giving him an even more eerie appearance as he drones, "Commencing deletion."

It's obvious that we are cornered, but it seems like Tai and Agumon aren't going to settle for letting the hostile digimon attack us when they suddenly step forward. It's when they do that I realize there's a _lot_ of room in this area, which means...!

"Agumon!" Tai shouts, as Agumon answers, "Right!" and that familiar energizing feeling of warms suddenly emanates from the golden dinosaur digimon.

"Agumon evolve to _Greymon!"_ The sound of Agumon's voice deepening as he shifts into his higher form echoes within the gaps of the factory, just before I feel another energizing force from high above where we all stand.

"Gabumon evolve to _Garurumon!"_ A voice calls just as they are nearing our location.

I flinch a little just as there is a loud _clang_ of claws digging into steel. From behind the silhouette of the hostile digimon lands a quadruped digimon resembling a large wolf, about the same size as Greymon, lit up only by his proximity to the sparking mechanism of the door.

My brow furrows in confusion when I take in the digimon's blue stripes and pale light gray fur, only to hear footsteps rushing down metal stairs from the higher floors. I don't have to think too hard about who has advanced a stage- it's obviously Gabumon that has changed. When did he learn to do that though?

"Does anyone know what digimon that is?!" I hear Yamato shouting as he descends the last few steps with Mimi, Palmon, TK, and Patamon. Unfortunately, the stairs lead to a space that is just next to the fight between Greymon, Garurumon, and the robotic digimon, and there is no way to get there without passing behind Garurumon, which still poses as risky even with our digimon friends attempting to guard us.

"His name is Andromon! He's not normally like this, according to Gomamon!" Jojo calls back, immediately jumping in surprise when Greymon abruptly makes the first move, charging headfirst against Andromon and sending him flying back.

Once in Garurumon's zone, the blue digimon opens his jaws and starts gnawing and biting Andromon's head, shaking the metal digimon roughly so that loud scrapes screech under Andromon from his metallic attributes as Garurumon tries to break through the digimon's metal head.

"Try and get over here, there's another door we can escape from!" I hear TK call over, prompting my heart to jerk when I notice the interest these words spark in Andromon.

 _I think he's going to try something._

First ones to move are Tai, Jojo, Gomamon and I. I keep my eyes carefully peeled on Andromon as we quickly pass through the gap between Yamato's group and Tai's, following close by the iron grip Tai has around my wrist as he purposefully makes me walk in a position that blocks me from Andromon's aim.

Once we reach the other side, Tai finally releases my arm and allows Jojo to pull me closer. In the blink of an eye, Gomamon (still somewhat dizzy from the looks of it) is dumped in my arms and I'm left watching as Sora is next to make her way over with Piyomon, Koushiro following a few feet behind her with Tentomon.

It's upon their crossing that I feel that sharp spark of excitement from the robotic digimon that is currently fending Greymon and Garurumon off by throwing them aside and shoving them back from his form. Before he even begins to swing his arm, I already know what he's about to do.

 _"Izzy, watch out!"_ I blurt out at the top of my lungs, just as Andromon brings down his right arm with lightning speed.

 _"Spiral Sword!"_ The digimon shouts, as energy in the shape of a crescent begins to fly towards Koushiro.

Time almost seems to slow down as Koushiro lifts his gaze towards Andromon and the incoming attack, his dark brown irises flashing with fear as approaching death draws in towards him. My heart painfully writhes from where I stand, unable to do anything to help him as I let the jaws of guilt snap around my senses.

 _I should have been nicer to him,_ I realize much too late.

Right then... Just as that feeling of guilt and despondence hits me... I feel that spike of energy from digimon evolution suddenly simmer in the air around me. Immediately, I look back to see if Piyomon is finally joining the fray out of desperation- despite her large winged form possibly only being more of a hindrance within the factory walls.

But no. She has her beak propped open slightly in awe and she does not glow with the energy of evolution. Confused and completely unable to focus on the digimons' emotions due to my own going rampant within me with desperate hopefulness, I don't find out which digimon is evolving until I look back towards Izzy and see Tentomon standing before Izzy.

Tentomon has positioned himself in front of his partner, literally grabbing hold of the crescent energy mid-transformation and struggling to push it back away from his human partner with much effort. My eyes widen as I process the beetle-digimon's actions.

"Tentomon evolve to...!"

 _Is Tentomon using the energy spike of his evolution as actual power to match Andromon's outclassed strength?_ I think in disbelief as Tentomon manages to push it away at the last second before his form finishes shaping itself into a bipedal quad-winged blue insect with four arms and a lithe body that immediately reaches back and shoves Izzy roughly towards the rest of us.

 _"...Kabuterimon!"_

Out of sheer relief for the survival of my fellow companion, I put Gomamon down and meet the boy half-way before he stumbles, wrapping my arms around him and catching him before he completely falls over. He seems relatively surprised, but I'm not too sure if it's because of Tentomon's evolution or me catching him before he falls.

"Th-thanks," he barely manages as he rights himself up and jumps a foot away from me anxiously.

Izzy and I flinch and return to the reality of the situation when Kabuterimon's form is slammed into some metal machinery a good few meters ahead of us, proving that even three against one- _Andromon_ still stands as the stronger force. My stomach turns when I see Greymon and Garurumon struggling to get up a couple of meters away, limbs tangled with one another as the robotic digimon visibly takes a few steps towards Izzy's and mine's direction.

As he walks, I feel that sharp stressful pain in my right shin, prompting me to glance down at my leg before looking towards Andromon in confusion. Before I can say anything to Izzy though, he pushes me behind him and grits his teeth nervously, eyes flicking around for a way out of this mess. We are backed into a corner, and the others aren't close enough to attack- not to mention that most of them are visibly frozen with fear, probably scared that any movement might push Andromon into attacking prematurely.

Andromon stops approaching for a second, and his eyes narrow on Izzy.

 _"Hindrances to main deletion prove constant. Delete all,"_ Andromon drones suddenly, his words deliberate and threatening as he stares Izzy down.

 _This is my chance...!_

"Kabuterimon! _His right shin!_ Aim for it!" I bark abruptly, watching as Kabuterimon immediately bends like a spring from his spot near us and lights his main gray horn up with a surge of skin chilling electricity. Before we realize it, he's unfurling and snapping in Andromon's direction like a bullet.

 _"Beetle Horn!"_ He roars, just as his sparking horn makes contact with the digimon's shin and has Andromon falling back with a heavy clang of metal as his body writhes with the currents of Kabuterimon's electricity.

Andromon skids past Izzy and I, clearing us from the zone of immediate danger and allowing Izzy to let out a shaking sigh of relief as we look after the two digimon. Andromon stops shaking and Kabuterimon leaps back towards Izzy and I as we wait to see if Andromon is really done fighting us.

My breath hitches when a black gear- familiar to our eyes following _Meramon's_ defeat- shoots up from Andromon's right shin. Moments after it slows against gravity, it bursts into dust and vanishes out of sight, and with it, all the negative sensations and my small headache follows after it's disappearance.

I walk around Izzy confidently just as Andromon stirs, making the other kids lunge forward in panic to stop me. I skirt around the nearest attempt- Izzy- to kneel down beside Andromon as he rolls over onto all fours, staring down at the tile beneath him.

"...Are you okay now?" I tentatively ask, feeling Jojo grab my wrist until I yank it out from him to watch Andromon and wait for an answer.

 _He's not as upset as Meramon was... But I feel that he's regretful. Gomamon is right, this isn't a bad digimon,_ I observe, staring at the robotic digimon with the other now approaching kids.

"...The evil has subsided," Andromon finally speaks up after a long moment of silence, lifting his head up to look at me emotionlessly. His face emotes as much as Tentomon's does, but I can still feel the spark of excitement when his chocolate brown eyes meet my blue eyes. "Thank you."

I smile in relief, feeling Gomamon crawl onto my lap with a knowing grin as I pull him into a hug now that everything is okay.

"So you're Andromon, right? Are you the only digimon here in this factory?" Tai speaks up, crossing his arms casually. "We were told that we might find some information here by the digimon Meramon... What happened to you though?"

Andromon pushes up onto his feet easily, causing me to follow suit and crane my neck to completely look up at him. Doing so is uncomfortable, so I end up looking around the area curiously to see the chaos our fighting has brought onto the factory. Electric surges spark here and there, with puffs of black smoke beginning to fill the room with that uncomfortable dirty smell of burnt rubber.

"Everything started when I found a black gear stuck in one of the machines. While trying to get it out, I became stuck in the machinery. From there, I remember that gear taking control of my body. I cannot atone for the things I've done to you children or your friend... But I will do my best to answer any of your queries that I can," Andromon states before looking down at me once I've returned my gaze to him.

...

Andromon cracks a small smile at me, and my expression shifts to mild astonishment. Oh, so he _can_ emote!

I grin back at him brightly, already sensing he knows of my ability and sharing his amusement through our bond as if it's an inside joke. The collection of confusion among the other kids beside their equally amused digimon only makes things funnier, but I soon set that aside to follow beside Andromon as he leads us through the exit we've been trying to go through moments before.

 _Maybe I'll get some answers regarding my empathetic abilities..._ I think, hugging Gomamon when he shoots me a knowing smile. He nudges my chin, and I reply by petting his head with a small grin as we find a calm and safe place for us to converse.

...!

I stiffen up apprehensively when I feel the sensation of eyes glaring into my back, prompting me to look back at the others curiously with narrowed eyes. The digimon behind me all send me confused emotions, which run parallel to the few looks I get from some of the other kids as I scan the background behind them studiously.

 _I'm not imagining that, am I? This is the second time I feel like there's something among us... Yet find no one there._

"Is something the matter?" I hear Andromon drone as I continue looking behind everyone.

"...It's probably just my imagination," I answer after a moment, turning away before the collection of stares from the others start getting to me. For now... We have more important things to deal with.

Like the questions that have been floating around in my head regarding my abilities and the reasoning for these black geared digimon wanting me... Well... _Dead._

I feel a hand set on my shoulder, looking back to see Tai offering me a reassuring smile. My cheeks heat up and I manage to return the light gesture before averting my gaze nervously. Gomamon audibly chuckles in my arms, so I flinch and 'bop' the top of his head out of fear that Tai will be hinted about my crush on him.

 _Relax! Just relax..._ I think, grimacing as I face forward again and resist a pout. _And_ try _not to die._

* * *

 **A/N: I'm ashamed at how long it took me to finish the ending to this chapter. JUST. THE. ENDING. Whew! Well, hopefully it was worth the time it took to make the final result perfect.**

 **I'm already hyped that I've managed to cross this part- which was a major writer's block end for me until I forced myself to keep going and going...**

 **I can honestly say that I'm satisfied with this version of the chapter's ending.**


	12. Ch 12: The Sewage Detour

**Chapter 12**

* * *

 ***Marie's P.O.V.***

"Um, what are we doing here, Andromon?" Gomamon pipes up in confusion from my arms, squinting curiously at the many dark symbols in the battery room and oblivious to the glowing symbols only I am able to see.

The strange symbols of code look the same as they had when I ran out before, though Andromon is mostly focused on the walls of codes rather than the floating symbols like I am. His arm sweeps carefully over a certain row, where I note the smear of a certain inked symbol that has Izzy laughing nervously when Andromon pauses beside it. My curious eyes shift towards Izzy in question.

"I sort of messed that up when I went chasing after Marie..." Izzy admits sheepishly, standing in the battery room with TK, Gabumon, Tentomon, Patamon, Gomamon, and I. At Izzy's words, I see Yamato raising an eyebrow of confusion in our direction out of the corner of my eye, prompting Izzy to wave him off with a mouthed 'later' that sort of... irritates me. Not enough to make me revert back to ignoring Izzy, but enough for Gomamon to notice and roll his eyes at me.

I pointedly avoid all the digimons' gazes after that little moody spark.

The rest of the kids hover around the doorway, looking in with interest as they observe Andromon's movements. He pulls something out from a compartment in his chest, and when I lean around to try and see what he's doing, I note the marker in his hand... and raise my eyebrows in surprise as he rewrites the symbol correctly and the lights of the factory all flicker back to life.

"That should be suffice," Andromon drones, putting the marker away as he takes a slow glance up at the lights and then back at Izzy and I. "What questions do you children have?"

Tai opens his mouth to speak, but before he can, I turn just in time to see Jojo pushing forward and slapping a hand over Tai's mouth to blurt out, "Are there any humans here?!"

Andromon blinks deliberately- _slowly_ \- at Jojo, as if he can't process why my favorite cousin is asking such a dumb question. _Obviously_ there are humans there, he's staring at us right now... But it doesn't hurt to be a little more precise with his question.

"He means humans _other_ than us," I assist after a second, hearing Gomamon snickering under his breath at the look Andromon continues to give my cousin.

"...No," Andromon answers flatly, causing Jojo to deflate immediately. His hand falls from Tai's face, leaving the brown haired boy to sweat drop at him curiously. "There are no other humans here other than the eight of you."

Yamato blows out a breath of mild vexation. "Perfect... Absolutely no progress," the gold haired boy huffs rather close behind me, but I resist the urge to bolt away since I'm standing next to TK. He already wants to ask me something regarding my behavior around his older brother (I'm sure of it), and I don't want to remind him about it by continuing to display my discomfort around Yamato.

"Do you know Meramon?" Sora speaks up next, once again interrupting Tai and leaving him to make a slight face of annoyance as he closes his mouth and drops the finger he's raised. I put a hand over my mouth to stop my grin of amusement at him, but he catches it out of the corner of his eye and gives me a mischievous warning smile that has me looking away quickly out of the intensity of my delighted feelings.

When I notice Agumon pointedly staring at me from my other side though, I freeze up and conceal my giddy emotions like the snap of a clam. Agumon only smiles and appears to brush off whatever he's sensed, clearly not understanding why I'm so gleeful around his partner most of the time and why I choose to hide that fact like I'm currently doing right now. I let out a sigh of relief under my breath at Agumon's lack of further observance.

 _I need to stop doing that before any of the other sharper digimon notice,_ I mentally scold myself sheepishly.

"Yes. I haven't had contact with him for a while. Am I correct to assume he sent you children to me?" Andromon asks, which makes all of us nod in agreement. "I see..."

"He told us you might have some answers for us, so we figured it was worth the slim chance since we're lost anyways," Sora continues, stepping forward into the battery room with Piyomon practically glued to her side. "We don't really have anywhere to go based on the information we have so far."

"Psst... Marie." I reluctantly glance down at Gomamon in my arms, who leans up over my shoulder to get to my ear and cup it with his flipper. "Ask about those weird little gadgets you guys have!"

I nod and look up to Andromon, only to feel my courage vaporize when I find him and the other digimon all staring at me in curiosity. I stiffen up nervously and cringe back a bit behind TK, mouth glued shut as if even a peep would break the sacred silence hanging around the other kids' moment of contemplation on what to do. At this, Gomamon slaps his flipper against his face with a sigh of disappointment.

"Oh brother..." I hear him mumble under his breath, before he turns over my shoulder to attain Jojo's attention and get my cousin to lean over to listen to his suggestion despite Jojo's despondence at the lack of humans in the factory.

"Are we the first humans you've seen before?" Mimi thoughtfully supplies while Jojo nods to Gomamon and waits for Mimi's question to be answered first.

"No," Andromon drones, his monotonous voice making it sound as if such a thing is common. His answer makes many of the digimon jump with surprise, along with a few of the other kids. "I've seen some humans before, long ago, however they left immediately after their arrival. I do not know what their purpose here was or where they went after. I did not make any formal contact with them. You are the first humans I have ever explicitly spoken to."

TK shares a look with me, Patamon still staring at Andromon with much interest- as if we were in the middle of story time rather than getting answers to important questions that would shape what we're to do following our visit here. When I look back over at Andromon, I flinch a little at his trained gaze suddenly resting on me.

"And I have heard of the child with the gift," he adds directly to me. Jojo seems so caught off guard by this revelation that he doesn't ask about the gadgets first.

"Are you talking about Marie's ability to 'feel' digimon?" Jojo asks, while Izzy glances from me to Andromon and back in surprise, laptop open and at hand. When he found the time to get his computer out, I've no idea, but I simply shake the thought aside to listen to the robotic digimon before us.

"Do you possibly know why Marie can feel digimon? And why some digimon act the way they do around her?" Izzy queries after Jojo, my cousin waiting pensively for whatever answer Andromon may hold.

"...No," the metallic digimon answers flatly.

Izzy makes a face of disappointment while Jojo grimaces in annoyance. I on the other hand can't help but let out a low, indiscernible breath of relief when Andromon answers that. Somehow... I'm not so sure I will like the answer to it.

"However, I do know of something that might be of interest. I never truly understood it until I met your friend," Andromon continues, resulting in the two smart boys to perk up again with interest. " _ **'The child who feels is an omen'**_... I heard this came from some ruins one of my old friends visited, but I myself am not aware of where they reside. Most of my time has been spent in this factory, running ."

TK frowns, a puzzled expression etched across his face as he touches his chin thoughtfully. "An onmen..." He repeats, though his pronunciation is a little off.

"TK, what's an onmen?" Patamon asks curiously from atop TK's head, only for TK to drop his thoughtful look to shrug with a clueless pout. Immediately, he turns to look at Yamato behind us, who sighs with a small smile at his younger brother's antics.

"An _oh-men,"_ Yamato clearly enunciates to correct his brother, "Is a sign of something symbolic that is to happen. Something important that could either be good or bad."

"Ohh, you mean like when some dogs go crazy and bark before a natural disaster?" Mimi inquires, peering over at Yamato curiously from where she stands beside Tai, Agumon, Palmon, Gabumon, and Jojo.

"Uh, I guess...? Yeah, I think that counts," Yamato says after visibly mulling it over for a beat.

Palmon squeezes past Mimi and Yamato, nearly running into Gabumon as she raises a root-like hand to speak up. "Excuse me! But... Are you saying that the digimon that like her find her a good omen? And that the others who want to hurt her find her a bad one?" Palmon inquires in concern, causing Mimi to frown in distaste.

"Marie? A _'bad omen'_? Marie could never be a _bad_ omen! She'd definitely be a _good_ omen! She's so sweet!" Mimi complains, grabbing my nearby hand and pulling me past TK. Before I even register it, I'm being coddled by one of Mimi's bone-crushing hugs. Well, not _really_ bone crushing, she isn't that strong, it's just mostly uncomfortably stuffy...

Not to mention that poor Gomamon is being sandwiched pitifully between Mimi's stomach and my chest.

"Possibly," Andromon answers, causing me to shiver in Mimi's arms as she relaxes her hold and rubs my back comfortingly.

 _What's that supposed to mean?_ I wonder, biting my lip while Gomamon gasps for air and shoots the disinterested Mimi a look of mild vexation. _...If I'm an omen though, I'd have to disagree with Mimi. I'd most certainly be a_ bad _omen, considering my track record as of now._

"That might be so... However, some digimon might seek her deletion even if she is a good omen. Some digimon out there don't find the idea of peace as desirable as the rest of us," Andromon explains, eyes flicking back down to me. "Unfortunately, that is the limit of what I am able to tell you. The only thing else I can offer you is the way out of this factory towards the north side of the buildings."

"Well... That's okay. Thank you so much for everything!" Mimi chirps contently after a moment's hesitation, the first to begin heading out of the room likely for air since she's fanning at her face so much. Tai, Sora, Matt, Izzy, Jojo, and their respective digimon (not including Gomamon in my arms) are among the ones to immediately follow after Mimi with a few comments to each other that go over my head as I stare after them listlessly in my own thoughts. My blue eyes follow them out the door and around the corner until I can't see them anymore, leaving me to drag my gaze down to the ground in the room of bright floating symbols around me.

"Marie?" Patamon asks in concern, hovering over TK and I as I take a step back from the glowing symbols that move around us.

 _Why am I the only one that can see them? Not even Andromon seems to be able to see what's floating around us..._ I think, turning and jumping in sudden surprise when I unexpectedly find Andromon staring down at me inquisitively.

"...What are these 'glowing symbols' you are seeing?" Andromon asks, but rather than answer, my breath hitches and I shake my head silently with a befuddled smile. Before anything else can be asked, I grab TK's hand and start to power walk out of the room quickly, making my way after the older kids with Gomamon still wrapped in my arms.

"'Glowing symbols'?" Gomamon repeats with an amused accusatory tone, looking up at me with a raised brow. "Are you keeping stuff from us, Marie?"

"Huh? She didn't tell you...? Oh, you weren't with Yamato's group, that's why!" Patamon speaks up, leaving me resigned to my fate as I slow down so the older kids aren't close enough to hear the conversation between the four of us... Five with Andromon following behind and getting closer. "Earlier while our group came by to check the battery area out, Marie mentioned that there were these glowing symbols like the symbols on the walls of the inside of the battery floating around. We couldn't see them, but when she poked one, it lit up and TK and I could see it!"

 _"Really?"_ Gomamon purrs with obviously exaggerated interest, looking back up at me with a big grin when I meet his gaze. "Can you show me one right now?"

My eyes flicker around the room, but there are seldom glowing symbols in the immediate vicinity, causing me to shake my head at him quietly now that we are close to the older kids again. I don't want to talk about it here... None of them will believe us anyways.

After all, there's already so much proof that I can "empathize" with digimon, yet some of the kids are blatantly brushing it off anyways for some odd reason. Even the ones that believed me at first appear to no longer show much interest anymore in what I warn them of, save for Jojo who is the only older kid to believe me (likely because he _knows_ me). Why bother giving the others something else to completely forget about?

Much to my relief, TK, Patamon, _and_ Gomamon seem to respect that I don't want the other kids to hear this, and we all fall silent as we merge with them. They're talking about food rationing, and how much we should try to store in the bags of those carrying them. From what I can hear, Jojo is audibly speaking for the space of his medical bag as well as my own backpack space.

Andromon takes up the spot in the front to lead us to this exit of his, obviously having listened in to our conversation yet saying nothing out loud much to my relief.

I'll tell Jojo later when it's just us, but not any of the other kids. I _would_ tell Izzy, considering he's one of the others that seems to believe me indefinitely, but... He's got too big of a mouth.

After much walking, Andromon eventually stops us by these two large circular tunnels, turning to face us and gesture towards it. "Take the sewers," he says to us simply.

...

Mimi leans around Jojo from near TK and I, her expression morphing into distaste as she looks down the sewer entrance, which drips at slow intervals on the inside with an unknown liquid substance that immediately has most of us wearing expressions among the same spectrum as Mimi's. "You expect us to go down _there?"_ Mimi inquires in slight offense and fear.

Andromon seems oblivious to our disgust.

"There is a territorial digimon ahead that you children should avoid. If you take the sewers, you should be able to pass through the territory safely in secret," the tall digimon explains, watching with interest as Mimi visibly shivers.

"...Can we take our chances with that territorial digimon?" Mimi inquires, inching back from the sewers a bit.

"There is nothing stopping you children from attempting to do so. However, I would not advise Marie to follow your group if that is the case," Andromon states, prompting Yamato to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"Why not? If she's a target to other digimon because of this "feeling" ability you say she has, wouldn't it be smarter _not_ to be split up from her?" Yamato challenges Andromon, while I push away the stab of pain at the clear fact that he doesn't believe in my abilities.

Andromon turns his head to look directly at TK's brother, so quickly that it makes Yamato visibly stiffen up at the jarring sight. This digimon has such a humanistic disposition that it's so easy to forget it's _not_ another human...

"I said there was nothing stopping you children. Not that you would survive attempting it," Andromon finishes monotonously, his tone even flatter than before. "If Marie were to follow your group through the territory above ground, she would be the first to get decapitated."  
Now _I'm_ petrified where I stand, his words repeating like a broken record in my mind. There's no censorship for children in this world, is there...?

 _Decapitated?!_ I panic, feeling the rising stress in many of the digimon in our group until I inhale softly to get a grip on my fear. Last thing we need right now is panic, especially after what Andromon just told us.

Nearly all of the kids stare at his words in confusion, save for Jojo, Izzy, some of the digimon, and surprisingly enough Mimi. Before I know it, Mimi is suddenly grabbing hold of my wrist in a vice grip. She is the first to tug me towards the sewer entrance with Palmon at her side, the cowgirl's expression on the border of disgust and determination.

"Come on, Marie! Nobody is touching you on _my_ watch!" She huffs angrily, dragging me in with Jojo following quickly to take hold of my free hand. I'm immediately soothed by my favorite cousin's presence, and I look up to make quick eye contact with him to show my relief.

"A wise choice. I wish you children the best of luck on returning to your world," I hear Andromon say from behind as I get farther, quickly passing my thanks through the strong bond of emotion between the two of us.

"Th-thank you very much, Andromon!" I hear TK say to the digimon as he follows us, the sound of more footsteps behind him as the rest of our group start heading in.

 _Phew... I'm glad that made Mimi change her mind, but, ehrm... His reasoning is a bit graphic even for me,_ I think, only to blink when I sense an apology from back in towards the factory, causing a small smile to align across my chapped lips. I wave off the apology and share my gratitude with him for defending me, making sure the other kids don't see the smile on my face and think I'm weird and smiling for no reason.

Plus, it would probably be weird to boldly smile after being told I'd get decapitated above ground...

The tunnel gets more humid the further we traverse in the mostly unlit area, but we eventually make it out to the end, where we see the main path of the sewage system, with an aqueduct of mildly musky sewage water smack in the middle of the expanded tunnel.

"...What's decapitation?" Tai is eventually the first to break and ask, causing Jojo and Mimi to both turn back to give him looks of disbelief. They seem unsure of how to answer his question, and with one shared glance down at me since the word was used to describe my fate above ground, they soon seem at a complete loss for words.

Heck, even _I_ don't know how to answer him- which I shouldn't even be doing since he's the _older_ kid! This is totally backwards!

"Tai. Decapitation is the action of having one's head chopped cleanly off..." Izzy ends up being the one to break the news to him bluntly, causing the three of us ahead to shoot him cringes of disbelief.

Way to soften the blow, _braniac!_

The kids and digimon that were unaware of the meaning of the word- that being TK, Patamon, Palmon, Agumon, Sora, Piyomon, Yamato, and Tai himself- blanch in terror almost immediately. It's a distinct reflection of the looks that had initially been plastered to those of us that heard and understood it from the mouth of the digimon that originally spoke it.

...

"Oh..." Tai utters in a deflating answer, while I visibly shake my head at Izzy. Izzy sheepishly shrugs towards me, mouthing an apology my direction. I can see Tentomon holding his forelimbs together in a pleading manner behind Izzy, like he's begging me not to be angry with him again.

At that, I crack a bit of a smile, leer at Tentomon in slight amusement, and turn away as soon as Izzy seems to notice that I'm looking at someone behind him. I don't see his reaction to catching Tentomon making gleeful gestures at my empathic assurances that I'm only peeved momentarily.

"Careful, there's a drop here to jump," Jojo announces to the others behind us, while Mimi and I jump down and quickly clear the area for Palmon and Jojo to jump down after us. Soon, TK follows along with Yamato, then Agumon and Gabumon, Tai and Sora, Piyomon and Izzy... Until we are all joined along the side of the sewer with the flying digimon relocating by their partners. "Are we all here?"

There's a chorus of voices as we all go through our group roll call, until we are looking towards either side of the sewers in confusion.

"Which way do we go...?" Sora questions out loud, looking from one direction to the other... Until I point towards the left.

"That way," I state easily, since I'd been keeping an eye on our positioning and where we'd come from. "From here, we're facing south, and we came from the west... So it only makes sense that we keep heading eastbound like we've been doing from the beginning, right?"

Mimi grins and pulls her arms towards herself, squealing loudly in delight as she stares at me with gleaming brown orbs. "So _smart~!"_

"Yeah... You are pretty clever, aren't you?" Yamato surprisingly compliments from Mimi's left, reaching over to pat my head in Mimi's arms. Bewildered by this sudden change in demeanor, which is a lot like how he first treated me when his brother startled me into bumping my head back at the camp, I look down and feel a warm smile play on my lips.

 _Maybe... He doesn't hate me as much as I assumed?_ I wonder, taking a peek up and flinching a smidgen at his pensive stare on me. He doesn't look mad or anything, but I evidently end up turning away to hide my head in Mimi's chest to escape the older kid's intent gaze. _That wasn't a compliment, was it...? Or is he patronizing me?_

I hear Gomamon grunt in distaste, crushed between Mimi and I once again.

"L-let's keep moving, yeah? After all, we aren't gonna get far just standing around!" Izzy pipes up much to my relief, giving me the exit from being awkwardly studied so I can worm out of Mimi's arms and relocate beside Jojo once more. Needless to say, Gomamon is _elated_ that we are no longer within Mimi's grabbing range as we resume our march through the tunnels.

* * *

 **(Thirty Minutes Later)**

 _Drip... Drop... Drip... Drop..._

The sounds of water droplets hitting whatever it can find to make the loudest _ping_ , fills the chambers of the sewers.

...Kind of. If it wasn't for the loud obnoxious singing of the kids and digimon- well, save for Mimi since she appears to indeed have a very airy and light angel's singing voice- all I would hear is the droplets. Piyomon sounds very pretty too- though considering she's a bird digimon, I guess that's really no surprise.

I don't really join in, and no one seems bothered by it, much to my relief. I hum along, but singing like they are? _No way!_ Especially since I still don't know these other kids that well! Jojo I'd definitely sing for. In fact, maybe even just the _digimon_ I'd be fine singing for. I don't even _like_ singing! But I definitely would not sing for the other kids. Not when they don't bother to get to know me better eitherThey're just looking at my "cute" exterior and making assumptions based on that.

They don't know me.

...

 _"-EEP!"_

I jerk to a stop and nearly trip over Jojo's foot, only panicking for half a second until Jojo reaches out with Tai to steady me from falling headfirst into the sewer water. As I look at the water, I must make the nastiest expression in the universe, because Tai kind of snickers in amusement as I'm pulled back.

The kids' and digimons' singing have ceased, and the notice of this has Jojo, Tai, and I looking towards the source of what has cut our merry mood off.

From where we are, I see Sora shivering in place where she is, cowering into herself protectively much to everyone's confusion. What made her yelp? Is she hurt?

I wriggle away from Jojo and Tai to approach her tentatively, scooting past Izzy until I stand in front of her.

"Sora? What's wrong?" I ask carefully, already feeling the expansive body heat of the rest of the kids approaching. As if snapping out of a nightmare, Sora opens her eyes and stops quivering at the sight of me looking up at her with the collection of concerned expressions of the other kids.

"Are you okay?" Tai asks behind me, but this time I'm less affected by his proximity since I'm far too involved with fussing over Sora.

Sora looks around as if she's forgotten where she is, but then looks up at the ceiling to sheepishly answer, "S-some water fell down on me..."

In relation to this, some of the other kids look up and start studying the ceiling. There are a collection of thick droplets ready to fall, and just as I do, one large globule splatters gently against my left cheekbone, much to my distaste. I flinch at the unexpected assault and make a face, but unlike Sora, I just wipe it off with my forearm. Beside me, Izzy quickly pulls his backpack with his laptop off and holds it against his chest, arching his back a bit to protect it from any potential droplets.

Just as I look back at Sora, I spot a water droplet hitting her chest, but Izzy beats me to pointing it out.

"Sora, you've got some dirt and water on your shirt," Izzy points out, making Sora glance down at the location and quickly wipe the grime off with a less than eager expression. Unfortunately, doing this only seems to smear the dirt- spreading it on her shirt as well as the glove she's used to try and clean it off.

With this realization, her expression falls and she lets out a sigh.

"...I want to do laundry..." She murmurs, loud enough only for Tai, Izzy, and I to actually catch what she says.

 _Laundry? Why would anyone... Well, I guess the point's that she wants clean clothes,_ I think, thoughtfully glancing down at my own grime and dust covered clothing, which was only recently cleaned back at the Pyokomon Village. _I can't blame her for that._ I _want clean clothes too..._

Tai seems to agree, and he puts an arm over my shoulders much to my surprise, making my muscles tingle and my nerves coil up violently. I struggle to calm myself as he rubs my left shoulder casually, as if comforting me... Did he notice me looking down at my clothes?

"Me too... I want to relax in the bath," Tai sighs, looking up despite the comforting gloved hand he's placed over my shoulder. Eventually, I unwind and start to reminisce of the warm liquid baths of scented lavender that my mom would make me in the mornings before school. The relaxing washing and splashes we'd make before I got out, got dressed, and left for school.

The hot cocoa, or as I called it when she first showed it to me when I was younger, "Candy Milk", she would present to me the moment she gently woke me up to get ready.

My stomach churns.

"I want..." I turn curiously to look at TK with a few of the other kids, watching as the dirty blonde seems to enter a day dream, one in which he's playing with what looks to be a game pad. He crouches down and mimics the actions of playing a videogame, causing Yamato to snicker.

"Er... Is now _really_ the time to be thinking about videogames, Takeru?" TK's older brother asks, before chuckling a little more... And then allowing his amusement to die off into something akin to the same longing I'm guessing most of us are feeling. He turns to face us, even making eye contact with me. "I guess I really shouldn't be laughing at him, should I? After all..."

Yamato looks away with a somber look, staring down at the ground near where TK is now looking up from his imaginary videogame.

"What I want is a sizzling barbecue... Like our dad used to prepare for us around the beginning of summer. Man... I'd eat that till I hit a food coma!" Yamato finishes, closing his eyes and inhaling as if smelling the food.

My muscles twitch again, and I allow myself the moment to think back to my own home.

...Dad made barbecues too. We would even make announcer voices to see which meat cooked the fastest, like in those 50's or 60's horse racer radio shows.

 _"...Aaaand number 75 is nearing the mark! Look at that sizzling and fabulous dark charred marks on the side, MM-HMM, the pork loin to the left is for sure gonna make the cut! He's gonna make the cut! But OH! 63 is close to the finish too! This is going to be a close call folks, pay up, pay up! This is the bet of the century, I tell ya', ain't nobody that's gonna hear the end of this in the future, this one's going in the books!"_

I resist the urge to smile at my silly dad's antics, just as Jojo suddenly speaks up from my other side. I look up at him curiously as he starts.

"Don't laugh, guys, but... I miss studying," Jojo speaks up. In fact, I almost _do_ laugh, because I expected some kind of response like that from him. Jojo is the best, _honestly._ He's so smart too! He's certainly the reason I like doing homework myself and going to school, "I want to do _loads_ of homework and extra credit!"

I grin and nod in agreement, but when I look at the other kids' expressions of weirded out confusion from both Jojo and I, I cock my head to the side curiously. Seems like not everyone is on the same page as us...

"That's... That's a little odd, I'll admit, but if Marie wants something like that, then who am I to judge?" Mimi states, beaming in my direction before looking away at something far off. It's obviously something in her imagination, something she longs for just as we long for our own desires. "I want to drink some ice-cold soda pop under the coast-side sun with the spray of sea mist hitting every fiber of my being!"

I blink at the descriptiveness of the pink clad cowgirl and look down in thought. When was the last time _I_ went to the beach...?

 _...Oh._

That's when.

I strain to keep a cap on my emotions, expression flat as I stare down at the ground and wait for it to swallow me up.

"Ah..." Mimi audibly sighs, but I don't look up.

"Wow, Mimi! That sounds _really_ good! I'd like that too!" I hear TK exclaim, getting farther away from where I am.

"I want to send emails back and forth with my friends!" Izzy blurts out suddenly, while the walls seem to close in on me... And only me. It's like there's a wall coming up from between me and the rest of the other kids- even Jojo. My arms feel heavy... And a familiar thought makes itself known in the back of my mind.

 _Why bother? They all have a reason to go back home. And you?_

 _...Nothing._

I shrug off Tai's arm a little too roughly and turn to walk away from the collection of kids,

"...Marie? Where are you going?" I hear Tai ask, along with the sound of footsteps nearing me from behind. A hand lands on my shoulder gently, and before I know it, Jojo is standing in front of me. My eyes land on his shirt halfheartedly... Until I manage to bring myself to look up at his face.

Jojo looks strangely guilty as he meets my gaze- the silence of the kids and digimon behind us permeating.

...

After a beat of a moment, I exhale the breath I was holding and rest my forehead against his chest in resignation.

...

"...What's wrong with me, Jojo...?" I ask in a meek murmur of despondence, only loudly enough for him to hear me alone.

As if having no way to console me and my emotions, all he does is wrap his arms around me and bury his face in my hair. My throat tightens, but my eyes stay as dry as ever.

I can feel the questioning stares of the other kids burning against my backside, struggling to produce the solution to the puzzle that is my strange behavior- strange for a kid my age, at least.

 _...I wish I could go to sleep and never wake up again..._


	13. Ch 13: Self Doubt

**(Edit:** Sorry about the freaking mess of this chapter you early readers saw! I guess the text didn't translate into the website well for some reason...? Idk. Should be fixed now, but if there's anymore problems, please PM me and let me know! :3 Also, thanks to the people that messaged me about this issue!)

 **Chapter 13**

* * *

 ***Marie's P.O.V.***

"...I think everyone is just tired," I hear Gabumon comment somewhere in the background as I take a deep breath to fill the empty void in my stomach, composing myself and putting my neutral face back on as I step back from Jojo, meeting his eyes momentarily and receiving a nod in return. We're not about to talk here, but a talk is definitely necessary as soon as the group finds a stopping point.

"How sad..." Gomamon audibly sympathises, only talking one step in Jojo and I's direction before the sound of obnoxious chatter begins to echo from deep within the recesses of the sewers. Confused, I frown in unison with Jojo, the two of us turning our heads to look to our left where the noises are coming from. What in the world...?'

"Eh? What's that noise...?" Sora queries, while Jojo and I take precautions by backpeddaling towards the others, keeping our gaze locked cautiously on the pitch black of the tunnel ahead of us.

There's a beat of silence where everyone quiets to listen closely as it the sounds get closer and closer, right until Agumon makes a wretching noise of abject disgust, correlating with the palpable feelings of revulstion that quickly emanate from every digimon partner in the vicinity.

"Numemon," Gabumon confirms with a frown, prompting Piyomon to shiver at his side with just the mere mention of this name.

"Wait, what did you just call it?" Yamato inquires, once again sounding awfully close behind me. I feel my back go rigid in response to his proximity, but don't jump away since my main concern is whatever this _"_ _Numemon_ _"_ thing is that's slowly closing in on us.

 _It feels like... Something territorial. Something that's annoyed yet excited by our presence. And... There's more than one. I don't like this one bit! Why are we still just standing here?_

"I think we need to leave," I speak up timidly, my meek voice barely noticed by anyone as they resume their coversations. At the complete disregard of my comment, I make a face and look towards the other kids, only to find that they're all either looking at the end of the pitch black tunnel or listening to the digimon prattle about the Numemon. "We should start moving, everyone..." I try again, but make a face of frustration when I'm once again ignored.

" _Them._ They're Numemon. They're these really gross type of digimon that like dark, slimy, and dirty places like these. Normally if you see one, there's more behind it!" Gomamon groans from beside Jojo's feet.

"Are they strong? Could we take them in a fight?" Izzy asks next, also answering any lingering thoughts on why we would still be standing there with oncoming multiple enemies. True, if we can fight them off, or better yet, _intimidate_ them into submission, then we're probably in no real danger.

"They're weak. But I would not propose we attempt engaging them..." Tentomon grumbles, somehow managing to cringe into himself enough to convey the disgust that is growing the louder the sounds get. At this response and visibly display from his digimon partner, Izzy cocks his head to the side and makes a face of confusion.

I look back towards the end of the tunnel, finally just about able to make out figures moving together in the distance. It looks like several small squishy bodies, accompanied by the squelching noises their bodies make as they advance towards us in a group. It's while I'm observing them in my special way that I seem to extract a certain amount of tidbit that makes me slap my hand loudly on Jojo's wrist as I bend over to scoop up Gomamon, the most repulsed look of abject horror on my face as I proceed to roughly pull my cousin straight past the other kids with no regard for whether they'll follow or not. TK looks after us curiously, but stays rooted beside Tai and Agumon for the most part.

"Eh? M-Marie? What are you-?!" Jojo asks as the voices of the other digimon and kids continue. No way are we staying in the Numemon's line of fire! Not after what I just learned...!

"The Numemon attack with their own _feces?"_ I ask Gomamon in horror, totally not sharing in the flippered digimon's amused laughter that has been going on since I first scooped him up. "Gomamon!"

"I-I don't have to confirm it, it's obvious you already know!" Gomamon snorts, while Jojo releases a noise of disgust at this revelation.

"Not sure why you're laughing since-" The sound of the other kid's and digimon's collective cries of panic as their footsteps begin chasing after Jojo and I cut me off mid sentence momentarily. "-since you're in no less danger of getting a pile of poo in your _own_ face!"

Mimi's shrill yelling reaches my ears first. "What _is this?!_ That's disgusting!" She shouts way behind Jojo, Gomamon, and I. Lucky for us, we're far enough that the Numemon won't be reaching us with their throws. For Mimi and the others... That's another story. Hopefully they're all as good at dodgeball-like games as Sora and I are.

As we run, the chase leads me to flee on ahead aimlessly until I see the light of day when I turn a corner, causing Jojo to gasp with hope, "There's the exit! Keep running, Marie!"

I nod breathlessly, tuning in to our digimon party a ways behind us. They're relatively close, not exactly at our heels since they decided to wait around till the last minute, but close enough. As for the Numemon... I can hear them, but they're further back just behind the others. The kids are obviously being led by our digimon companions, who are tuned in on my location via my emotional output so we aren't split from one another.

Jojo and I break out into the daylight, scurrying just a couple of yards away from the exit before stopping to catch our breaths and look back to make sure the others have followed us out safely.

The first ones out are Sora, Matt, Palmon, and Piyomon- followed by the rest of the kids and digimon as they rush to get themselves out from the sewers and into the brightly lit outdoors where Jojo and I have managed to somewhat slow our breathing back down to normal levels.

Gomamon looks up at me from my arms, raising a flipper with a grin. "Thanks for helping carry me, by the way!" He chirps, looking not at all bothered or concerned despite the scare we'd just experienced.

I frown slightly at him, but can't help the twitch of a slight smile that plays at the corner of my lips. "You're welcome... Ish," I huff, eyes trailing back up to look at the other kids as they share looks and glance back into the tunnel to see if the Numemon will persue us aboveground.

"Numemon hate the sunlight, so we should be okay now," Agumon speaks up behind the kids, sharing a sigh of relief with Tai and turning to join Jojo and I where we're standing with Gomamon.

To Jojo and I's surprise, it's Yamato that reaches us first, looking surprisingly irritated for someone that was just terrified of being pelted with digimon stool. He stomps his way straight past Tai and Agumon, even bumping shoulders with Tai and eliciting a sound of annoyance from the brown haired boy as he stops right in front of me.

 _Oh no,_ I think in mild panic, taking a step back when I realize this look is aimed at me personally. Just back in the sewers, I thought things were beginning to look up between us. I thought maybe I looked too much into Matt's irritation- that it was originating due to the circumstances, _not_ because he disliked me. Was I wrong to think that? Does Yamato really just... _Hate me?_

Jojo straightens up, immediately defensive and putting an arm up to stop Yamato when he deems him too close for comfort. "Whoa, hold on, Matt-" My cousin starts to say, only for Yamato to stop and throw him a scalding look.

 _"'Hold on'?_ What was _that_ back there?! The two of you just ran off without saying anything to us! You could have given us some kind of a warning before upping and leaving like that!" Yamato snaps, this time turning his head to face me once he is done speaking to Jojo. I pull Gomamon tighter to myself, taking another step back in case Yamato decides he wants to smack the back of my head or something like Jojo would do when I'd get in trouble under his eye back at home.

"I _did_ say something. I said it twice. It's not my fault nobody was listening," I respond meekly, my voice barely showing any of the real vexation I'm certainly feeling pumping through my veins. It's hard for me to get in arguments... I don't like them, I'd prefer not to meet them head on, but I'll respond back if necessary. Maybe if it had been three months ago when everything was normal for me, I would snap back with equal vehemence. However, it's not. Now, my temper is usually subdued and mild for the most part. Passive-aggressive. Lacking most of the fire that Yamato is displaying.

At this, Yamato stares down at me. After a second of considering my words, he lets out a scoff and turns away, parting to rejoin Gabumon and begin walking off in the direction ahead. It's the right direction, but it's clear we should let him walk alone for now to cool his gears down...

 _...I didn't do anything wrong by leaving, did I? I tried to tell them! They weren't listening to me though... They didn't listen to me back at the factory anyways either, and they_ actually _heard me back there. So if they heard me this time, what would it have accomplished? They only listen when they_ want _to listen. They only believe me when they_ want _to believe me. If I had tried to get their attention and make them hear me, all it likely would have done is change the topic of this argument... Besides, it's now fairly obvious that Yamato doesn't like me one bit. My guess is that he'd find something else to yell at me about,_ I think, wrinkling my nose slightly in disappointment and distaste.

"Don't listen to him, Marie, he's probably just winded up from everything that's happening," Jojo tries to quietly reassure me from my left. I give him a weak smile, if only for the attempt to make me feel better.

 _Jojo's wasting his time on me. It's too late, I'm already upset._

Not this again.

 _I'm fine. It's going to be okay. Everything is alright..._ I think to myself, quickly making a job of dispelling the start of that horrible sensation in my gut that reminds me I'm only as "okay" as I pretend to be half the time.

 _Besides the sour things that have happened though, aren't you having even a little bit of fun? You've been laughing more often lately, haven't you? Ever since you landed here with the other kids. You like the digimon._

That's true... I have been smiling more here, even though we've gone through a few dangerous incidents. But I still feel somewhat alienated from the other kids... I have Jojo on my side, no doubt about that whatsoever. I've bonded with TK, Sora, Izzy, and Tai on a certain level as well- but unfortunately... They still don't know me.

They don't know me at all. None of them do.

Just Jojo.

"Marie... Do you want to sit down somewhere?" Gomamon suddenly asks quietly, prompting me to snap out of my reflections and glance down at the concerned expression he wears on his face. Something about the look in the digimon's eyes gives me the immediate impression that he can almost see right through me. Sure, I can hardly ever hide my emotions from him and the rest of the digimon, but... It's almost as if he's known about this from the start. Like I've _always_ been transparent. I can't pinpoint whether I like this or not. "We can stop and rest if you need to."

 _Huh? He noticed? ...How long?_ I wonder in confusion, before turning my head to look back at the other kids and digimon behind us. As soon as my eyes land on them, the kids turn their gazes- obviously having been staring at me and Jojo since we started walking. As for their digimon partners, however, they keep their gazes locked on me, casting me worried glances that only serve to make me feel worse than I already did. I tear my gaze away from them and hug Gomamon to myself a little more, finding comfort in his presence. He reminds me of a stuffed animal, except one that you can actually talk to.

"No, I'm not tired... Thank you for asking though," I respond to the digimon in my arms, only for Gomamon to look back ahead with only a mild sense of disappointment I can feel through my so called "gift". I sigh at this, reaching up and running a hand through the tuft of orange hair atop Gomamon's head with a half-hearted reassuring smile. "Look, if I do start to get tired, I'll take a break. For now though, I'm perfectly fine. I'm not as bothered about _that_ as you think, don't worry."

 _I am okay,_ I reassure myself more than him in the back of my mind.

Gomamon falls silent, and despite our emotional connection, I can't tell if he's bought my excuse or if he's just decided to drop the issue for now. Knowing how sharp Gomamon is, it's likely the latter, but I don't make any more attempts to push the facade. Instead, we fall silent alongside the other kids and continue on forwards.

After all, it's the only way to go from here...

* * *

It takes about only an hour or two until the first person breaks the stiff silence, but after walking for so long and half listening to varying conversations, I can't remember who it was that spoke first. Either way, now conversations are going on every now and then as we're walking, despite many of us losing our breaths under the sun from exerting ourselves so much. On another note, Yamato and Gabumon finally rejoined the group, but unsurprisingly have placed themselves as far away from Jojo, Gomamon and I in the group as possible.

Whatever. He can do whatever he wants and continue being upset on his own. If I keep thinking about how bad that situation made me feel, I'm just going to feel worse about it. I'm choosing to get over it, chalk it up as a loss, and move on. I can't make him like me and he can't make me like him. Like what I thought before about Izzy before he showed a little more of his colors. It's impossible for everyone to get along with one another.

Jojo is still walking beside me, but now he's the one carrying Gomamon, who started to become a little too heavy for me to hold after walking for so long, prompting me to pass him to Jojo (not without a teasing complaint on Gomamon's part) after some time. Jojo didn't fight me on this like last time- instead simply offering me a sympathetic smile, rubbing the top of my head, and gathering the digimon in his arms without another word.

I really don't deserve a cousin as wonderful as Jojo.

While walking along side Jojo and following the small river of water leading back to the sewers behind us, the presence of something ahead catches my attention, nearly causing me to stop mid step. I open my mouth to say something...

And nothing comes out.

My foot hits the ground and I shut my mouth, closing in on myself and averting my gaze to stare at the path ahead of us leading over a hill. It feels like there's a knot in my throat, tying my words down and keeping me from speaking up no matter how much I want to. It feels as if I'll get punished with whatever I end up doing. I could tell everyone and further irritate Yamato, or say nothing... And somehow still irritate Yamato. If that's the case, then what's the point of trying?

Not like any of the other kids will listen to me anyways.

Just imagining Yamato giving me that look from before again makes me feel like utter human garbage...

I fidget with the end of my hair, eyeing the bruises still visibly adorning my arm and pressing a finger into one. The pressure sends an odd signal of subtle discomfort and pain to my nerves, so subtle that I do it again with just a little more force. As my finger pulls up from the bruise, the pain of pressing on it starts to fade again, until I repeat the action. It's something to distract me from the bigger pains, I guess.

"Don't do that," Jojo suddenly whispers, pulling my hand away from my arm and keeping it captive in his.

 _Well. Distraction gone._

I eye Jojo's hand in mine and look up at him and Gomamon, only to feel a fuzzy warm feeling of joy when I find them casting me soft smiles that greatly settle my nerves. It's obviously Gomamon that's sharing his support, but even Jojo's friendly smile helps without an emotional link to him like I have with Gomamon. If Jojo's happy, I'm happy.

 _...I found a better distraction,_ I think to myself, gripping Jojo's hand a little tighter and grinning just a little more at the information that is passed through my bond with Gomamon. He noticed my reaction to the digimon ahead, and I'm willing to bet the other digimon in the party noticed too. I don't need to say anything after all! Still though... Maybe I can scrape up a little more information of the digimon residing ahead.

It feels like...

...?

 _More_ _Numemon_ _?_

I look up at the sky with a weird scowl of confusion. Agumon said Numemon don't like bright lights... They didn't follow us up here, that much is certain, but if that's the case, why would there be any ahead of us on a bright day like this? I'm _sweating_ a little as is! There's no buildings in sight either- perhaps there's a cave over this hill that we can't see? That's the most logical conclusion I can come up with. Either way, I pass this information to the other digimon around me, and narrow my eyes on the hill as we come close to the top where we can begin to overlook the valley and-

"Whoa!" Tai is the first to blurt out, coming to a halt and gaping at the sight below as Jojo, Mimi, Palmon, and I join him and Agumon at the front. "Are you guys seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Vending machines! But there's so _many_ of them!" Mimi gasps, cupping her face as she eats up the sight with her amber eyes like a man in the desert coming across an oasis.

And vending machines there are indeed. Many of them are just randomly scattered along the dip in the field of the valley ahead of us, spread out so erratically that one can't help but scratch their heads at the sight. It's not just one type of vending machine either, it's soda machines of different colors and flavors, making the metallic machines almost rainbow-like in their placement.

I sense a bit of discomfort from Palmon and turn my head to see her regard her pink clad partner with an expression of concern.

"Mimi, you're not thinking about getting one, are you...?" Palmon inquires, already fearing the worst.

A beat of a second passes, in which my wrist is suddenly grabbed, yanking me out of Jojo's hold as Mimi bolts towards the vending machines dragging my surprised form along.

"Of _course_ I am! Come on, Marie, let's get something to refresh us lovely flowers!" Mimi chirps brightly, making Palmon momentarily garble in her panic before finally moving to chase after Mimi.

"Gah! Mar- _Mimi,_ they're not going to work anyways!" Jojo panics, only calming down and face palming with a sigh after he realizes Mimi isn't about to stop her little soda mission for anybody. Never the less, he doesn't pursue us, standing on the hill with Gomamon and watching with Tai and the others as I scramble to keep up with Mimi's longer legs. All the while, Mimi is more or less unaware of my struggles midst her laughs of delight, leaving Palmon to hold her arms out in case I trip over something... Like quite possibly my own feet.

By the time we slow down to a walk, I'm able to glance back at the rest of the kids standing on the hill, flinching slightly when I notice Yamato's gaze affixed on me. Startled, I look ahead and shake my feelings of disappointment away before they can eat at me again and become something darker. He doesn't look as mad as earlier... It's hard to read his emotions. At this point, I'm starting to _wish_ my empathic connection worked with the other kids as well. The digimon are a lot easier to get along with. We understand one another perfectly well.

"Ooo! Look, here's a good one! Do you want one, Palmon?" Mimi asks like a ray of sunshine, reaching into her bag to presumably dig out a few coins as we approach a magenta colored vending machine full of fruit flavored soft drink beverages for the taking. My eyes narrow on the machine as we stop in front of it, making my brow furrow.

I was so busy thinking about Yamato I didn't realize we're smack in the middle of the spot I sensed the Numemon. Yet... I don't see any Numemon anywhere. Where are they? I _know_ they're here. Are they underground maybe? No, that can't be it, I'm sensing them _above_ ground. Are they able to camouflage?

"No I do not!" Palmon states firmly, giving the machine a look for a completely different reason than I am.

"...You don't have to sound mad about it. Marie, how about you?" Mimi asks, turning to me with a few coins at hand.

I snap out of my thoughts, facing her and disregarding my senses. Maybe I'm under the weather or something and reading these signals incorrectly... There's no Numemon here, that much is obvious when I look around.

"I guess if it's okay with you... I like orange soda," I meekly respond, looking around at the other machines around. This particular machine doesn't have orange as an option, despite how popular the flavor is, but one of these giant hunks of metal are _bound_ to have orange as a selection. Granted that they even work to begin with or not...

"Oh, of course it's okay! Here, you take this." Mimi turns my hand and puts some change in it, giving me a bright grin that reveals her straight sparkly white teeth. "You can go get whatever soda you want with it! Don't forget to bring the change back though, okay?"

I hesitate before nodding in return, watching Mimi face the machine and scan the options thoughtfully as I wander around the machine and walk towards a blue machine close to us.

Hmm... No orange soda in this one either. My feet direct me to the next closest one, hailing the same options as the last. It isn't until three more machines after that I finally find one with an orange soda option, pressing the button and popping the money Mimi gave me in. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work.

 _...Hm. Funny, I don't sense a_ _Numemon_ _where these few machines are like I do with the others,_ I think to myself, just as I hear the inside of the machine audibly clanking to dispense...

... _Two_ orange sodas! Score!

I grin and pull the shoulder of my backpack off, tucking the sodas in my backpack safely for when I _do_ get thirsty and-

"EEEEK!"

The sound of Mimi's scream makes me zip my backpack shut on the double and jump to my feet in panic.

"Hey, _baby!"_ A audibly male voice calls out to Mimi, as I stand smack in the middle of the surrounding vending machines. Mimi and Palmon have retreated towards the hill at the surprise appearance of this filthy digimon, but it's impossible for me to get to her from here since I'm in a little alcove where the machines are packed closely together. There's only one way to get to Mimi and Palmon, and if I go that way, the digimon that has so clearly been hiding in the vending machine Mimi consulted with will spot me. I don't wanna be hit with any piles of digi-poop...!

I duck down and shift in a position where the double soda blessing machine is hiding me from the direction of the Numemon, feeling a sense of panic as it ripples through the digimon party.

 _I'm not here, I'm invisible, don't notice me, I'm not here,_ I chant to myself in my mind, slowing my breathing down as I listen to the conversation taking place between Mimi and the Numemon. It sounds like it's _hitting_ on her, if the way it's boldly asking Mimi for a date is any indication.

"Mimi, it sounds like he's hitting on you. What are you going to do?" Palmon asks her partner curiously, prompting me to crane my head a little to try and see between the machines packed together around me. This proves fruitless.

" _Nothing_ of course!" Mimi's indignant response reaches my ears, much louder than Palmon's question to her. "Why do I have to date a lowlife like him?!"

I cringe when I sense a spike of irritation and crushing rejection from the Numemon's spot, making a face of disbelief. Oh no, Mimi! You should have let him down _gently!_

Palmon appears to understand my sentiment, sharing her emotions almost as if to let me know she knows I'm still hiding among the vending machines. "Mimi, don't make him mad!" Palmon's voice wavers nervously as she tries to placate her partner's feisty response of disapproval.

"Don't worry, Palmon, he can't do anything! The sunlight will-... Will..." Mimi's voice trails off as a breeze of air hits my body, along with the movement of a shadow creeping over the ground swiftly. Confused, I look straight up and slap a hand over my mouth to stop a gasp of horror in it's tracks.

 _It's overcast now._

I can practically feel Palmon's urge to face palm as if it's right next to me.

"N-No way..." Mimi uncharacteristically squeaks with a similar sentiment to Palmon and myself, but neither are aware of the sharp anger I notice suddenly blossoming from the Numemon. I warn Palmon instantly through our link, bells of alarm going off in my head.

"Who are you calling a lowlife?! Oh, _now I'm MAD!"_ The Numemon snaps mercilessly, right before I hear shouts of panic from both Mimi and Palmon just past the Numemon. I can already tell he's trying to pelt the two with... Fecal matter. _Ugh!_

The resounding clanging of metal from all around the surrounding soda machines near Mimi's initial chosen soda machine makes me flinch and move further back in my hiding spot, repressing my emotions and staring down at the grass to make myself as unnoticeable as possible. They were in the _soda machines!_ Those Numemon hid themselves in them to hide from the sun! That's why I didn't _see_ any of them but sensed them where the machines were! Hmm... But not in these machines. These ones are real soda dispensing machines.

When I sense the links I have to the digimon party and the Numemon around snapping out of contact with mine, my stomach churns violently.

 _...What?_

 **Snap!**

 _W-wait a second-!_

 **Snap! Snap!**

 _Hold on, I can't tell where they are!_ _Gomamo_ _-?_

 ** _SNAP!_**

...And then silence.

My heart pounds against my rib cage, notifying me of the discomfort I feel without any digimon in the nearby vicinity to link with. The last time it was so quiet like this was when Falcomon left me to my devices at the beach after leading me out of the woods I woke up in. After spending so much time among the digimon party though... Now it's almost eerie to not have them around.

 _Nevermind the digimon, you're_ completely _alone right now! The_ _Numemon_ _just separated you from all the other kids! From Tai! From TK! ...From_ _Jojo!_

I stand up and run past the vending machines, hopping over the covers to the machine boxes in hopes that maybe I can catch up to them. It isn't until I reach the hill and turn every which way at the top that I realize I can see them. I can see any of them- just scattering Numemon in the distance, but they're splitting off in completely different directions. Which way is the _right_ way? Where did everyone run off to?

Should I stay here? Stay here and pray they come back to see if I'm still here? Jojo used to tell me that if I ever got lost, I should stay in one spot so he can backtrack to find me... But this isn't a mall. It's someplace bigger.

...

I bounce in place momentarily in thought until I come to a decision and start running after the Numemon, following one group into the trees with a last lingering thought of dread.

 _Please don't let this lead me to into an even larger group of_ _Numemon_ _...!_


	14. Ch 14: High-Class Meal

_**WARNING**_ **: 1) This chapter delves into sensitive issues regarding depression, and will continue to have such issues sprinkled from this point on throughout the story. Please proceed with caution if you are easily triggered. 2) Minor horror elements ahead, beware. Nothing too severe, but enough for me to change the rating to "T".**

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

 ***Marie's P.O.V.***

I weave around the trees carefully, breathing heavily as I tune in and out of my empathic searches to find the other kids in the wilderness of this wacky digimon-festered world. I can't tell if I'm getting close to anyone or not- and those that I _do_ sense are digimon that are strangers to me.

 _Where am I even going?_ I wonder, pushing myself to run around some more trees. Somehow, the Numemon have out sped me, so I don't even know where _they_ are in relation to where I'm running. For all I know, I could be running in the complete opposite direction of where everyone else is. _I should have stayed by the vending machines...!_

I come across an opening in the trees and jump as I nearly run into a dangling piece of wood caught in a large spider web I _almost_ walked straight into. I stagger momentarily and proceed to maneuver around it, senses on overdrive as I search for the digimon responsible for the web.

...There's no one else around me. This web is obviously abandoned- that or the resident digimon living in it has gone off to gather food before returning. Perhaps small organisms that suit it's tastes.

I take a moment and glance down at myself, right before looking back at the much larger web in comparison and turning to leave the vicinity post-haste. The thought of being on _anybody's_ menu is horrifying- I never had to worry about becoming anyone's meal back at home...

 _You had worse things to worry about, isn't that right?_

Leave it to my brain to taunt me when I'm out all by myself.

...!

My head snaps up when something sparks my senses, prompting me to speed up my walking pace to a run so I can follow the familiar signature emotion of what feels to most likely be-

I run smack into the side of one of the other kids, however since it's so sudden, I can't immediately tell who it is until I jump back and feel the gloved hand of the individual wrap tightly around my wrist to keep me from losing my balance.

"Marie!" This particular voice causes a clench of my heart as I register who it belongs to in the back of my mind.

My eyes fly up to find Tai staring at me wide eyed, only for him to then throw a glance behind himself and start running with me in tow next to him as Agumon joins me on my other side.

"Come on, we gotta run!" Agumon shouts, giving me no chance to say anything or ask what's going on. Unless... Are the Numemon _still_ chasing them?!

 _Where is everyone else? Why is it just Tai? Did everyone get split up?_

Either way, I run along with Tai anyways, making an effort to keep up with him and Agumon as I feel the Numemon catching up to us. For having an appearance akin to that of a slug, they sure move fast!

I let out an irked shout of horror when I spot a splatter of digi-poo hitting the ground near us.

Just like that, Tai, Agumon, and I are motivated to pick up the pace.

It isn't until we come up over a hill that a sharp pain in my head catches me off guard, following a terrible and foreboding sensation of malice originating from ahead. I put the breaks on and stop Tai from proceeding any further, prompting him to look at me in panic and confusion.

Instead of explaining anything, I grab Agumon's clawed hand and drag the two of them towards the treeline to our far left, looking back to see the Numemon halting in their advances to the loud stomps of an audibly much larger approaching digimon.

The feeling of being noticed through my "gift" makes me shiver.

As soon as Tai notices this, he joins me behind a couple of bushes with Agumon.

 _This isn't going to work with me here,_ I think to myself, making a subtle attempt to peel Tai's hand from around my wrist. _I can't be here- that large digimon that's coming closer obviously has a black gear and knows I'm hiding in this spot. They don't know_ Tai and Agumon _are here too though. I could lead the digimon away from them and-_

The large digimon comes into view- long enough for us to get a good look at one leg before Tai is standing up again and shooting me a knowing look for my subtle attempt at escaping.

"Izzy told me what you tried doing to lead Andromon away in the factory. You're not doing that on _my_ watch," Tai says, keeping my wrist prisoner and quickly leading me away with Agumon.

 _Darn it, why can't that boy keep his mouth shut!_ I think to myself, glancing back nervously and allowing my eyes to jump around to search for any potential dangers that could be lurking in the woods as we walk deeper into them.

"Don't worry, Marie, we're gonna take good care of you!" Agumon insists, emitting pleasant emotive signals to make me feel better. Although I'm highly dubious of this, considering the level of the large geared digimon's power, I stop trying to peel Tai's hand from my wrist, following the duo out of the trees into another clear field.

"Shoot..." I hear Tai mutter to himself, looking around and playing with his goggles in thought as he scans the clear hills ahead of us.

"What is it?" I dare to ask, despite already preparing myself for bad news.

"...If we stay here in the trees and just keep walking deeper for cover, we're likely going to get split from the others for real. If we're gonna meet up together again and continue in a group, we need to round this clearing and head back to the river," Tai explains without looking down at me, leaving me to share a look of concern with Agumon.

I sincerely doubt my speed for this if I could barely keep up when it was just the Numemon chasing after us. Not to mention, if we're going to be chased down by this large digimon that no doubt has a gear embedded in it, my speed is going to be chipped down with all the headaches that accompanies it.

"I- Tai, I don't think I'm going to be able to- _Eeep!"_ I suddenly squeak when Tai turns around entirely, pulling our linked arms over his shoulder so I'm forced to wrap my arms around him. Next thing I know, he's grabbing my legs and hoisting me up piggy back- throwing me a big grin from over his shoulder.

"There. Problem solved," he responds to my half-addressed concerns, turning back to the clearing ahead as my cheeks tint an embarrassing shade of red that makes Agumon cock his head to the side curiously at me.

"Marie, why is your-?" Agumon finally opens his mouth to ask before the sound of an explosion a few feet behind us stops him short of saying anything. Tai jumps in surprise and takes off without another word, darting out into the clearing with Agumon at his heels. I cling to his shoulders tightly- but not enough to strangle him or anything. From the way he carries me, I'm able to look back and see for myself what exactly is coming after us.

My eyes widen two-fold at the sight of what appears to be a massive gold toned teddy bear with squinting red eyes directed right at Tai and I as he runs us to safety. It's _massive,_ about the size of two elephants stacked on top of one another. One foot looks to have a diameter large enough to stomp on the three of without much hassle. Despite that Tai and Agumon are running, the digimon strolls after us with it's large strides, looking in no way concerned that we might out run it.

To be fairly honest, I don't think we're going to be able to out run it either...! Even worse, Agumon already spent most of his energy evolving earlier! We're practically served on a silver platter for this digimon!

"What digimon is that?" I ask, not really expecting any kind of answer since Agumon and Tai are clearly already exerting themselves by running.

"Monzaimon! He's the mayor of Toy Town! A real nice digimon if you ask me!" Agumon chirps, emotionally pleased to be able to give me an answer despite our situation.

I feel my expression twist in mild disbelief. It's always the nice ones that get infected, isn't it...?

"What part of being chased and blown to smithereens is 'nice' to _you?!"_ Tai breathlessly responds incredulously, hands tightening around my legs as he forces himself to speed up.

"He's not himself, there's a black gear attached to him," I say to the two, making them share a nervous look that doesn't fail to unnerve me. Seems like they must have already guessed something like that, but my confirmation has them jittery and visibly anxious. "I can't sense any of the other digimon either."

"Great..." Tai mutters. Just when I think he's brushing off my words again, he adds, "If you do sense anyone, point us in that directio-"

My nerves spike. It feels like a bundle of spiders crawling down my spine in unison, causing a flinch to rattle my entire body. Tai cuts himself off when he feels it.

 _"He's gonna attack, GO LEFT!"_ I shout, feeling the boy veer sharply to the left and leap just as a red laser blasts into the grassy field just where we'd been moments before.

Unfortunately, one leap isn't enough to completely avoid it, and the three of us are sent flying from the force of the attack, which sends me rolling to the ground in wild soumersalts down a hill until I eventually come to a stop at the bottom. My ears ring and I struggle to catch my breath- all the air knocked out of me and leaving me gasping for a few seconds. Once I can breathe, I sit up and look around, until I make out the sight of Tai and Agumon at the top of the hill I'd rolled down from. I don't see Monzaimon, but I can sense him up there where I can see smoke wafting up from the stricken ground.

I can't hear anything either, but I can see Tai standing, opening his mouth and saying something to Agumon as the two catch their breath.

I put my fingers by my ear and snap them in succession, but still hear nothing but a flat whistling ring.

 _Get up,_ I think nonetheless, pushing myself up to my feet. It's when I do this that my hearing finally starts to reach my ears, making me squint up at the top of the hill as Agumon releases one of his baby flame attacks at who I could only guess is an approaching Monzaimon.

By their expressions seconds afterwards, this doesn't work in their favor.

I feel a spike of my nerves just as a throbbing headache makes itself known in my head, all at once bringing my hearing back to me in time to hear Agumon call out to me. I look up at the hilltop, meeting his frantic eyes as he and Tai go to run towards me. There's something akin to a blue bubble behind the two of them.

"Marie, _run!"_ Agumon shouts down to me, given only that chance to say it before the two blue heart shaped bubbles following them completely encapsulate their bodies.

I let out a small yelp of shock that makes me smother the noise with my hands. It's a reflex to quiet myself, a stupid reflex since I don't need to make a noise for Monzaimon to know exactly where I am.

I watch as the two attempt to break free from their confines- but in mere moments, their eyes start closing and they become visibly lethargic, each slouching in the bubbles until they are far too out of it to continue trying to escape.

 _Oh no...!_ I think to myself, knowing that if I stay there I'll be the next one in a bubble like that.

Or worse, Monzaimon will just kill me on spot like all the other digimon with black gears have tried doing.

I spin around, heavy guilt fresh in my gut as I abandon Tai and Agumon to their fates with Monzaimon. There's no way I stand a chance against that digimon! I can't fight, there's nothing to fight _with_ even if I could...!

I continue onwards through the valleys between the hills, not risking myself by climbing up any hills where Monzaimon can see me from. Maybe if I get far enough... I'll be able to-

 _He's attacking_!

I make for a dive to the right this time, coming to a clever logic that if Monzaimon can tell that I know when he's attacking, he'll try and shoot with the assumption that I'll jump to the left like the last time.

An wave of energy from the explosion of lasers hits me from a couple paces to the left.

As I roll back onto my feet and continue running, I sigh a breath of mild relief through my exertion. He _did_ shoot for the left! Now... That little trick isn't going to work anymore. If I'm unlucky enough, I'll jump right into one of Monzaimon's lasers and get myself killed. If I guess right, I'll be gold... Until the next possible attack.

 _Just keep running,_ I tell myself, despite my legs already slowing down from my efforts. I'm getting tired of running. I'm a tree climber, not a runner- and tree climbing isn't going to help in this situation at all.

I jog into a massive bundle of trees, nearly tripping over a large exposed root.

Which way? Which way do I go now? Keep going forward? What If I get lost? I'm never going to see Jojo again, am I? I'm all alone. Monzaimon got Tai and Agumon... What if he caught everyone else too? Who's idea was it to split up? What's Monzaimon planning to do with-

I trip, but instead of the fault being of a tree root, it's my own clumsy foot getting in the way of my other. I hit the ground, yelping as I land on my knee. It was already hurting from before- now it's throbbing even more than it had prior. I push up onto my feet, hissing in pain as my right leg from the knee down objects to the weight of my body. I crumple back down to the ground.

 _No, no, no...! Not this! Not right now!_ I think to myself, taking to a crawl and carefully dragging my leg along with me, attempting to keep off of it and bouncing along with my left knee instead. I'm likely not to get very far like this... But I try anyways because-

I stop in my tracks, pausing in thought. After a minute or two of thinking to myself, I sit back on my heels and fist my hands into my leggings.

Because of what?

 _What's the point... I have no chance._

Tears start to run down my cheeks as I think back to the hill- where Tai and Agumon had been caught. Could I have done something? No. It doesn't take much thought to come to that conclusion. I'm useless. I've been useless from the start. I can't do anything. I've been the main source of all our problems with these digimon from start to finish, and every aggressive digimon becomes even _more_ aggressive when they know _I'm_ here.

Yamato is right to hate me.

I hate myself.

I slap my hands over my face and curl up into myself, controlling my breathing again. I'm starting to fall apart and Jojo's not here to put me back together.

 _Jojo, what do I do? What would you_ want _me to do?_

 _..._

Keep going.

I don't _want_ to keep going. I want to sit here and wither away.

...I say that to myself, but make a poor attempt to pull myself together anyways through my sniffling and shaky mouth breathing, getting back on all fours and hopping on my back left knee to crawl deeper into the woods. I can't seem to feel Monzaimon behind me anymore... But what if it's just him snuffing out his emotions to sneak up on me? Waiting for me relax and settle into one place where he can finish me in one blow without worrying about me dodging an attack?

It's an incentive enough to make me crawl faster.

* * *

I don't know how long I've been crawling around the woods aimlessly, passing a sparse amount of wild digimon that don't attempt to come near as I traverse the foliage. If anything, they move in the opposite direction of where I am, avoiding me like the plague likely due to the dumpy emotions I'm giving off.

Eventually, my continued dismay drowns out my emotive senses entirely, leaving me a mess of discomfort as I crawl to who knows where.

 _I wish Jojo were here..._

"Why are you sad?"

I halt and look up a rock to my right, wiping my eyes clear of my tears to see who it is.

Standing atop the rock with equally moist and glistening eyes is a small digimon similar to Gomamon's size. Instead of sporting flippers and a tail, however, this digimon is one visibly akin to a lop eared rabbit with brown fur and pink accents. Atop their head is a small trio of horns the size of coins, small enough that they're not about to impale anyone- but will definitely do damage with a hard enough headbutt. To be honest, the digimon looks like a chocolate bunny, standing bipedal as it cautiously slides off it's rock and comes closer. As it nears me, it gets on all fours similar to me, until it stops once we are face to face.

"...Being happy feels better, don't you know?" It inquires, wiping away at it's own tears.

 _Don't tell me I'm the one making it cry!_ I think, only feeling worse about my predicament as I sit back and take a glance down at my right knee. It's swelling up like a baseball, twice the size of my good knee and tinted a greenish-purple shade. To top it off, there's a massive scrape going down the middle. Another wound I can add to my already growing collection of injuries.

"Oh... Did you fall? That looks like it hurts a lot... If I help you, will you be happy again?" The digimon asks, looking up at my face and straightening up on it's two feet once it presumably deems me safe enough.

I shake my head at it, biting my lip to swallow down my emotions. "You shouldn't be around me. You'll get hurt too," I say, watching as it evidently takes a hesitant step back. Without another word, the digimon turns around and runs off around the rock. I can still sense it nearby, which immediately makes me release a breath of frustration, not at the digimon, but at myself. How did I not notice it coming closer?

I crawl further away from the rock, feeling only a _little_ better after contact with another digimon- especially one not trying to kill me. As I'm passing the next bundle of bushes and tree roots requiring some careful maneuvering, I sense the rabbit digimon coming back over to me. I pause and wait in response, resting atop a thick tree root I'm having trouble crawling over without banging my bad knee.

I'm still not sensing Monzaimon anymore, which is rather strange. I could sense Andromon and he sensed me when we were on complete opposite sides of the factory earlier. How is it that I can't sense Monzaimon? Is it safe to bet he can't sense me either? Hmm... This might have to do with Andromon being a digimon of a far higher caliber than that of Monzaimon or even Meramon. Maybe... I'm safe for now.

"You should eat this. I brought it for you from home," the digimon says, holding out a bright red apple to me. It's eyes are dry now, likely because my own have stopped leaking sometime while getting lost in my thoughts again. A distraction- this is good.

I raise my hands to take it, but then pause and blush when I remember my manners. Jojo used to scold me when I'd abruptly take things outright. I'm very hungry after all that running, but I should exercise some courtesy regardless. This digimon didn't have to bring me anything, and yet...

"Are you sure?" I ask, fiddling with the tree root as the digimon steps closer for me to take it, insisting with it's emotions. Based on this response, I take the apple from the small digimon and proceed with a careful bite into the fruit's red exterior. The juicy red fruit doesn't fail to perk me up, and it isn't until after I've got only the core left that I realize the digital is sitting down beside me, finishing an apple of its own.

Once they're done, I put it aside by the tree and carefully climb over the tree root, banging my knee only once as I situate myself to sit next to the nice little digimon.

"...Thank you," I say, making it smile up at me.

"You're welcome! I'm sorry you're still not happy though... I should have gotten you a bigger apple," the digital considers thoughtfully, which prompts a sudden laugh of amusement out of me despite the situation. At my response, the digital perks up itself. "Oh! You're doing better! That's good!"

I guess it's trying that whole "winning the heart through the stomach" thing.

 _I do feel better now though... Boy, this little digimon came at an good time,_ I think, before scanning around for Monzaimon and eventually deeming it safe enough to take a moment to see if maybe my leg will do better with rest.

"I'm Marie," I introduce myself, touching my injured knee thoughtfully as I look towards its smaller form beside me with mild embarrassment. "I'm sorry I made you cry..."

"You can call me Lopmon. Its okay, you didn't mean to. It's not your fault you were sad. We all have rainy days sometimes... What is it that made you cry?" The chocolate bunny inquires curiously, carefully asking the last part with an emotive offer for me to pass the question if I don't want to answer it.

Lopmon's thoughtfulness wins my answer.

"...A digimon called Monzaimon captured two of my friends, and I don't know if he caught the rest of them because we all got split up. It's my fault... It's because I'm here that they get overly aggressive," I explain softly after a moment, feeling my hollow sadness attempt to creep up on me once more. "Maybe Tai and Agumon would have gotten away if I hadn't been there. Monzaimon only knew where we were because I was around."

Lopmon makes a face of sympathy.

"You too, huh? Monzaimon attacked my friend yesterday for wandering into toy town and playing a prank on him... He's probably at Primary Village hatching again as we speak."My brow furrows in confusion. "Hatching 'again'...?"

Lopmon nods. "Yes. Digimon don't really ever disappear after a while, or if something happens to us, our data is recycled and we return as a digi-egg to a place called Primary Village."

Now I'm even more confused. "What do you mean by 'data'?"

The chocolate rabbit meets my gaze, playing with it's floppy ears.

"Digimon are made up of data. That's why we're called digimon. It stands for 'Digital Monster'. You may not be a digimon like me, but now that I'm looking at you, I can see you're made up of data too," Lopmon comments, much to my inherent surprise.

"...Do you know what this entire place is called? My friends and I have been lost for a while, and the digimon we travel with haven't mentioned anything like what you're telling me, so I don't think they really know yet themselves," I explain, watching Lopmon look around as if it's obvious.

"This is the Digital World," Lopmon says simply, watching as I connect all the dots in my mind.

The battery Izzy and I saw in the factory. The symbols resembling code that were flying around unbeknownst to the other kids and digimon...! I need to tell everyone that-

 _Tell them what? They're probably all captured by Monzaimon._

...Didn't Agumon mention that Monzaimon is the mayor of a place called Toy Town? Maybe it's safe to assume Toy Town is nearby... Which means if (and it's a _big_ "if") Monzaimon were to take any of the digimon or kids anywhere, it would be there. Monzaimon is probably still lurking around the hills looking for me. Could I use that to my advantage and sneak into the lions den to get Agumon and Tai out?

I stand up with a sudden movement, relieved to find that the pain in my knee has greatly diminished after giving it some time to rest without the stress of my body weight. As soon as I'm on two legs, I look down at Lopmon.

"Do you think you can point me in the direction of Toy Town? I'm... Not sure if there's anything I can do, but I don't want to sit here without trying anything!" I say, despite the very real doubt in my gut telling me I'm sure there's absolutely _nothing_ I can do to help.

 _Going might just be a burden for them if they're attempting an escape or are even still-_ I think to myself, even though I'm far past changing my mind on this one.

Lopmon momentarily wears an expression of concern, but after some silence, they point in a specific direction to my right. "If you go that way, you should reach Toy Town no problem... I can walk you halfway, but once we reach the hills, I can't go any further. Monzaimon scares me..."

I nod in understanding, but before I can follow the digimon, it glances pointedly at my knee.

"I think I have something to support your knee back in my home. That way you won't make it worse by the time you reach Toy Town to help your friends... Please wait here!" The rabbit digimon exclaims, diving back into the thicket and leaving me on my own as I wait for it to return once more.

The woods, save for the nearly silent sound of grass being trampled by Lopmon, is mostly quiet in this particular area. It's almost surprising that I hadn't noticed this earlier, but the only audible thing here is the wind. No insects buzzing, no birds chirping... And I _know_ some small normal animals (albeit slightly different from the birds, bugs, and fish on earth) live here, because we've seen them before. It's just really odd that I'm not hearing any of that now. The silence is a bit... Eerie.

 _It's probably just that the digimon are hiding from Monzaimon or something,_ I decide after a moment.

...It's midst my waiting that I notice the presence of someone else among the trees around me.

I jerk into attention, blue eyes on high alert as I turn every which direction to catch sight of this digimon that seems to have quite literally appeared in the middle of my radar out of nowhere.

Or... No. This doesn't feel like a Digimon. In fact, it doesn't feel like an approaching gear either- I'm not having a headache or feeling bad. I mean, my head kind of hurts a little, but I think that's from all my crying and stress. It feels different when it's the cause of a nearby gear.

 _"Hello, child."_

I jump to my feet at the sound of a voice directly behind me, prompting me to move a few feet away and spin around to see who it is. Expecting something rather awful in general, I'm a bit relieved to see that it actually looks like a digimon, for all intents and purposes, blinking two bright beady eyes at me with interest.

Wait.

It doesn't have eyes... Does it?

I give the digimon a closer look, and stare stunned as my mind fills in gaps as my eyes flick around the digimon's entire body. As my eyes focus on one spot, features appear- but they're different every time. In my peripherals, the features that are no longer in my focus disappear entirely. Eyes are only there when I look towards their assumed location. A mouth appears when I look lower beneath the eyes, but then the eyes vanish. Arms and legs... How many of each? I can't tell. Too many to count, yet none at all... I have a feeling I'm not supposed to notice that about it, so I repress my anxiety and stare back quietly without a word.

I can sense it's presence and it's emotions- what little emotion it appears to have... So it must be a digimon, right? Something about it just isn't sitting right with me though...

The silence of the woods makes my spine tingle, especially staring at this unsettling digimon. Eventually though, I remember it's greeted me, and my politeness wins over my fear of parting my lips to answer it's fifty mouths. Nonexistent ears listen intently.

"...Hello," I respond simply, watching as it's mouth splits into a pair of grins that mirror one another, making one mouth appear as a frown. I'm not sensing any hostility from this digimon, but... I'm unsettled nonetheless. What could it possibly-

Something grazes the back of my neck, and I stupidly turn around to see who it is. To my utter shock, it's that same digimon standing behind me, even though I could have sworn I was just facing it only seconds ago in the opposite direction. My stomach twists uncomfortably for some reason.

"Who are you?" I ask, briskly turning my head to look where it once was. The moment I do, I see it's changed sides again, without a sign of movement whatsoever. The only thing leading me to believe there's no more than one is the fact that I'm only sensing it from one place at a time, blinking from one spot to another.

 _"An old friend,"_ the digimon answers, despite that it doesn't have a mouth. The changes in it's already mind bending appearance is making me a bit dizzy. It speaks again. _"Don't you know who I am?"_

I don't hesitate to shake my head.

"You can't possibly be an old friend. I've only learned of the existence of digimon recently," I answer, taking a step back when I notice that it's coming closer- even though I can't see it taking any steps towards me. It's like it's just... Sliding closer in my direction really slowly. I don't like it. My right knee objects to this movement, but I ignore it.

 _"I know,"_ it responds, watching as I make a face of confusion at it's cryptic contradicting words.

It smiles wider, as if finding my confusion amusing.

...

My eyes flick to a thick branch on the ground a foot to my left momentarily, and I inch towards it if only to have something at my side to make me comfortable.

 _"I wouldn't do that if I were you."_

I stop in my tracks and wait for it to say something else. Minutes pass, and eventually I have to take another step back to keep a reasonable distance away from it. I'm a little further from the branch now, to my dismay.

 _"I had a high-class meal recently, and I'm still hungry. I can't promise you won't be on the menu if you decide to do something stupid. And you're not a stupid child, right?"_

It stares at me without any eyes, and although I'm nervous, I manage to give it a nod anyways.

 _"...You don't know anything, do you? You have no idea what's going on,"_ the digimon says as if just coming to this realization. I make no move to answer it anything, already sensing that this conversation is going in a bad direction. _"You're not a stupid child, yet you can't even figure it out. Even_ I _know you're the smartest one here. Way smarter than those other humans. Way smarter than you ought to be for even a proclaimed 'genius' of your age. Did coming here dumb you down into a stupid child?"_

I swallow my anxiety to answer it. "I don't know what you're talking about. And you still haven't told me who you are."

The digimon- or _whatever_ it is- momentarily falls silent, staring at me dead in the eye. My brain scrambles to fill the gaps again, giving it the appearance of having one and a dozen eyes all at once. I step back a couple of times when I've realized I've idled and let it get too close.

 _"...Anyways, I'm glad you finally stepped away from your friends long enough to see me. I missed you. I can't come out when you're around them, you know? You have to be a certain distance away from them for a certain amount of time for me to come out in my full form like this, or else it hurts me. That's why I'd try to get you to notice I was around before- like when you were in the Pyokomon Village. I was hoping you'd be able to see me then, but it would hurt too much to stay and lead you away,"_ the digimon goes into explaining with a strange casualness to it's tone. It's voice might actually be the only thing that's normal about it. It sounds like the voice of any other digimon.

 _Lead me away...?_ I think to myself, even more apprehensive now that I've caught that. I feel like I'm being threatened.

"Why would you... Want to lead me away from the other kids?" I ask, stepping back some more and nearly feeling my stomach drop when I realize I've backed right into a tree. The digimon doesn't hesitate to step even closer, sliding so quickly that I feel the hairs on the back of my neck prickle at the disturbing image.

 _"Oh. So I could do this."_

The digimon stops moving and stares at me.

I blink.

All of a sudden, my so-called "old friend" is directly in my face, opening a mouth of dozens of very real and sharp teeth unlike those gap filled images my brain was making up when looking at it previously. The scent of something rotting hits my nose, and I would have fallen over retching if it weren't for the digimon leaning in so my head was in between the path of the two sides of it's mouth.

 _...Huh?_ I think stupidly, standing petrified where I stand as I stare up at the dark pink innards of it's mouth which lead to a dark bottomless throat. It's shadow passes over me and the digimon eventually stops leaning in, holding it's jagged teeth open around me. It pauses and through my senses, I'm able to register that it's waiting for me to react to this sudden aggressive behavior.

Actually, it's explicitly _letting me know_ it's waiting for me to react.

My stomach twists even more, and then everything happens at once.

Before I can even scream or say anything to dissuade it from literally beheading me, something tackles me from the side and I fly to the ground, hitting my shoulder on a protruding rock from the ground.

The sudden snapping sound of the digimon's teeth closing like a bear trap makes me flinch violently and look up from the ground as I clutch at my neck from a sharp pain that isn't my own. My eyes to go wide like dinner plates and fill with water when I see what's happened in the span of _seconds_.

Hanging between this disturbing monster's teeth by it's neck...

Is Lopmon.

The digimon with nonexistent eyes stares at me quietly, facing one way but keeping it's gaze affixed on where I lay. Slowly, it's teeth close tighter around Lopmon, until the small rabbit digimon's body and ear ends detach and turn a bright gold color, dissipating and dissolving into bright symbols and numbers of a familiar type that I can barely be bothered to remember due to the shock value of this creature's actions. As Lopmon's small hands disappear, two items drop from it and roll towards my direction, hitting my feet gently.

A roll of carefully tied fabric and another bright red apple.

As bright red as the blood now pumping violently throughout my entire body, giving me the energy to release a piercing scream from my mouth that echoes across the quiet woodland area for no one to hear.

* * *

 **A/N:** The story's really going now.


End file.
